Family Matters
by Mag68
Summary: This story is an add-in to the last 4 chapters of Middle Management. Focuses on the evolution of Rory and Jess’ relationship and it’s impact on the Gilmore-Danes-Mariano family. Starts when Rory goes to Florida, ends with Kirk and Lulu’s wedding.
1. A Post Script to a Kiss

**A/N: In response to **_**jmetcalf's**_** request for the missing scenes between Rory and Jess in the last four chapters of Middle Management. Thank you for planting the seed. Let's see if it blooms.**

**A Post Script to a Kiss**

Rory settled back into the passenger seat of Paris' BMW, and closed her eyes as they crossed into Virginia. Not that doing so pushed the mute button on Paris' running commentary about the ineptitude of their fellow travelers. She was disparaging the forty-something man driving the family minivan too slowly in the left lane as she zipped past saying, "Yeah, you used to be hip, you used to be cool, I'll bet you had it all going on, Bob. Look at what your life has become," in a mocking tone as she swerved into the left lane ahead of him; narrowly missing the slow moving box van that impeded her on the right.

Rory squeezed her eyes shut tighter, wishing Paris could just shut up for ten minutes, wishing that she were Genie and could blink them to Daytona Beach, and wishing with all of her might that she couldn't still taste Jess' lips on hers. She was angry. Angry that Logan fulfilled Jess' prophecy and proved that he is indeed the blonde dick at Yale. Angry that he had taken her to that party where she could be surrounded by his conquests, thinking that she would be too naïve to figure out what he had done. Angry that Jess had kissed her back and then sent her home like she was a wayward child; going so far as to close the door in her face. Angry that her need to flee had gypped her out of a week at home, hanging out in Stars Hollow and spending time with Lane, her mother, Luke, Josh and Jake. Angry that Paris hadn't stopped running her mouth since they left Stars Hollow. _The girl even talks in her sleep,_ she thought derisively as she opened her eyes and stared unseeingly at the landscape zipping past her window.

Yes, she was angry, but she was also relived. She needed this. She needed a few days to sort it all out in her head. She needed a little time to uncoil the knot in her stomach. She needed time to come to grips with the fact that Jess had sent her home had hurt far worse than Logan sleeping with every blonde heiress on the Eastern seaboard. She needed to figure out what to say to her mother or Luke if the situation ever came to light. She needed time to pray that it never did.

Rory closed her eyes again as Paris careened around an old converted church bus, cackling and calling to the driver, "Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration, don't fail me now!"

XXXX

Jess hung up the phone and stared blankly at the walls in the tiny closet of an office in the back of Weston's and muttered, "Florida." He flopped back in his chair and slumped down, splaying his legs and crossing one arm over his stomach as he tipped his head back and mumbled, "Oranges, hurricanes and Mickey Mouse." He drummed his fingertips on the desk and whispered to the ceiling, "Girls in bikinis and I'm left twisting in the wind."

XXXX

_Spring Break time in Florida is like a bizarre sociological experiment,_ Rory had observed as the hotel employees Paris had bought set up their chairs under the cabana she had reserved. Rory had just settled into her chair with a book when it became even more bizarre. Paris had just ordered a fruit plate, when a lifeguard's buggy pulled to a stop and Madeline and Louise hopped out and called to them.

At least Madeline and Louise were able to provide some insider insight into the whole Spring Break thing. They guided Paris and Rory through the next couple of days, nixing a repeat viewing of _The Power of Myth, _and dragging them to a never ending round of parties and clubs. The whole party scene was disturbingly familiar to Rory, who had ignored each and every one of Logan's thirty six phone calls. What she couldn't ignore was that there had not been one call from Jess. Not even one to yell at her for taking off without covering her shifts at Weston's. When she had called home to check in Luke had answered the phone, and she apologized profusely for not calling in to the bakery, but Luke had seemed distracted. He brushed off her apologies with a quick, 'It's no problem,' and handed the phone off to Lorelai. The conversation with her mother had been short, and a little stilted, a number of things left unsaid on both sides.

After Paris kissed her in the middle of the dance floor, Rory pushed her way through the crowd, heading for the exit and a breath of fresh air. When the guy she had spotted at the pool earlier stopped her and commented on the kiss, Rory shook him off, tossing a disgusted look over her shoulder as she made a beeline for the door. Paris caught up to her a moment later and asked, "Are you mad?"

"No, I just, I'm not into all of this," Rory said as she waved to the door of the club.

"Me either. We suck at Spring Break," Paris pouted as Madeline and Louise burst from the door in a fit of giggles.

"You're a hit!" Louise cried as she spotted Rory and Paris.

"There are guys lining up to talk to you in there. You're the 'it' girls," Madeline said with a sage nod.

"I don't wanna be an 'it' girl," Rory muttered as she wrapped her arms around her middle protectively.

Louise smiled as she tugged at Rory's arm and said, "Come on, this place is lame, let's move on."

"I want to move on to the hotel," Paris said firmly.

"You're joking! It's barely even midnight," Madeline pointed out.

"You guys go on, I'll go with Paris," Rory said quickly.

Madeline pursed her lips for a moment and then finally said, "There's no place good to go tonight anyway."

"Hey, let's go see if those guys at your hotel are still mixing up that killer punch," Louise suggested. "We can make our own party," she said with a nod as she slipped her arm through Rory's.

Paris looked at Rory and then shrugged as she said, "Might as well."

"Okay, let's go," Rory said as she gestured to the sidewalk.

Paris snorted and said, "I'm not walking these streets." She walked over to the bouncer posted at the door of the club and pulled a folded bill from her pocket. He nodded, spoke into a walkie-talkie, and moments later a taxi pulled to a stop at the curb. "Our car awaits, ladies," Paris said as she gestured to the cab with a smug smile and they all began to pile in.

Two hours later, the table they claimed near the pool was covered on plastic cups, and the girls were feeling no pain. When Paris frowned at the display on her cell phone for the fiftieth time in an hour, and then opened the phone, her brow knit with fierce determination, Rory finally snatched it away from her. "Friends don't let friends dial drunk," she said as she placed Paris' phone on the table next to hers. She picked up her cup and pouted when she found it empty. "Sad," she said mournfully.

Madeline stood up to fetch refills as she said to Louise, "I'm on it. You grill Paris on the mystery cell phone man," before heading back to room fourteen with a sway in her step.

Rory listened distractedly as Paris cryptically answered a barrage of Louise's questions. When Madeline returned, she placed four more plastic cups on the table and said, "I made them a little stronger this time."

"Oh, cool, it'll be fun to watch the cups dissolve," Rory said as she reached for her drink.

Madeline grabbed Rory's cell phone from the table as she sat back down and flipped it open. "So, Rory, who's the man in your life these days? Is that tall, gorgeous ex of your still around?" she asked.

"Dean?" Rory asked, shocked to find that she hadn't even thought of Dean in what seemed like ages. "Yes, he's still around. In Stars Hollow, I mean. He's married now," she said as she took a sip of her drink.

"What?" Madeline asked, her head jerking up as she stared at Rory in disbelief.

"Why?" Louise asked with a perplexed frown.

Rory shrugged and said, "Well, he met Lindsay, and they got married. She's pretty, blond, tall, leggy..."

Paris scowled into her cup as she muttered, "Oh, good, just what the world needs -- another one of those."

"What ever happened to that hot step-brother of yours?" Louise asked as she watched Madeline scroll through Rory's contact list.

"Jess is not my step-brother," Rory answered a little too quickly.

"Cousin or something," Paris said disinterestedly.

"We're not related at all actually," Rory said a little too defensively.

"Your mother married the uncle who was raising him," Paris said pointedly.

"I'm aware of that," Rory muttered as she took a fortifying sip of her punch.

"Logan Huntzberger? The Logan Huntzberger?" Madeline asked incredulously as she looked up at Rory.

"Is he famous?" Rory asked dryly.

"Infamous," Paris said with a snort.

Madeline shook her head slowly, a small smile playing at her lips as she said, "I hooked up with him once."

"Shocking," Rory muttered under her breath.

"He's Rory's boyfriend," Paris said quickly.

"Logan Huntzberger is nobody's boyfriend. I should know, I tried," Madeline said with a smirk.

"He's not my boyfriend anymore," Rory clarified.

"Oh, please, you guys will make up, you always do," Paris said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

Louise looked at Rory with awe as she asked, "You're really dating him? Like exclusively?"

Paris nodded and said, "She's Annette Benning."

"I am not Annette Benning, and I am no longer dating Logan," Rory said firmly.

"Logan has had a bit of a hard time adjusting to the exclusivity thing," Paris explained. "But, he's crazy about our Rory. He'll win her back," she said with a nod.

"Not this time," Rory insisted.

Paris shook her head and said, "This time is no different. He can get the leggy blondes anywhere, the doe eyed waifs are harder to come by in his circle."

Rory pushed her chair back a little and set her cup on the table as she said adamantly, "I am not doe eyed, I am not a waif, and I am not getting back together with Logan."

"Whatever," Paris muttered in a bored tone.

Madeline returned her attention to Rory's phone and asked, "Jess Mariano? Is that the hot step-brother?"

Rory stood up and snatched the phone from Madeline's hand as she said, "He is not my step-brother. We are not related. If we were related, I wouldn't have wanted to kiss him, would I?" she argued as she steadied herself against the table. Realizing what she had just said, Rory palmed the phone and took off on unsteady legs for the beach.

Paris stared after her in disbelief as Madeline smiled and said, "Ooh, small town drama, I like it."

Louise turned to watch as Rory stumbled away and said, "She seems upset."

"Give her a minute, I'll go find her," Paris said as she watched Rory disappear beyond the circle of lights.

Rory looked down at the open phone in her hand and pressed her thumb to the send button. When she heard Jess' ancient answering machine click on, she said, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," she panted as she tried to push her way across the sand. "It never should have happened. I never should have kissed you, and now nothing will ever be the same. How can it be," she said brokenly. "Can't we forget it? Please?" Rory asked as she dropped down onto her knees and rolled onto her butt. "Please, Jess, please," she said softly before closing the phone and staring out at the waves crashing onto the sand.

XXXX

"Please, Jess, please," Rory's voice echoed into the apartment. Jess stood with his hands on his hips, his t-shirt rumpled and his hair sticking up, styled by yet another sleepless night. Cautiously, he reached out and pressed the 'play' button, waiting as the machine reset itself and once again Rory's voice filled the room. He frowned as he heard her slur her words, and realized that the two a.m. phone call had more than likely been fueled by Jose Cuervo. Jess chewed the inside of his cheek as he listened to the rest of the message, and then hit the 'save' button. He shuffled over to the table and dropped into the chair in front of his laptop. He sighed and rubbed his hand over the back of his neck as he waited for the machine to boot up.

Moments later, he opened a blank document and wrote, _'He tried to tell himself that it was simply the allure of forbidden fruit; that you always want the one girl that you couldn't and shouldn't have.'_ Jess got up, walked over to the fridge, and pulled out a bottle of beer. He tossed the cap in the general direction of the countertop and then tapped a cigarette out of the half empty pack on the table. He lit it distractedly, drawing deeply and letting the smoke fill his lungs until he felt like he would suffocate. He exhaled, glaring at the glowing tip as he made a disgusted face and crushed it into the chipped saucer that was already overflowing with victims. He sat down, took a long pull from the bottle and then set it aside before holding his fingers poised above the keyboard. _'He tried to tell himself that, but he never believed his own lies,'_ he typed. That's how their story began...


	2. James Earl Jones Sings The Clash

**James Earl Jones Sings The Clash**

There is something about a story written in narrative form that sets his teeth on edge. Not that he would ever say that out loud, it sounded too pretentious even to think. And yet, here he was, living a life that seemed like it should be given a voice over. He hated feeling like his every action was being watched by the omnipotent force of the narrator. And he really hated the fact that the narrator in his head sounded exactly like James Earl Jones. "Luke, I am you father," Jess muttered as he stepped into the apartment that night only to find evidence of the mess his life had become.

He hadn't always felt this way. When he was living with Liz he roamed the streets of New York, living his life in the first person. There was no play by play, no color commentary going on in his head. He lived in the moment; lived for himself, because that was the only person he had to worry about. Not that Liz was all bad, it was just that she was just as self absorbed as he had been, and that had worked for the two of them. For a while. So there had been a little trouble. He could admit that some of the things he had done were not his brightest ideas, but in his mind, they were no worse than the things he had heard his sainted Uncle Luke had gotten into at the same age. A little mischief, maybe, some petty vandalism, definitely, but nothing too unusual for a guy his age. Certainly nothing that deserved a good bolt of lightning. _Sad how the church bells never ring in this picturesque little town,_ Jess thought with a smirk as he bypassed the mess on the table and headed directly for the fridge. He pulled out a bottle of beer and made a mental note to hit Caesar up for another twelve-pack as he twisted the cap off.

The minute he had stepped off of the bus in Stars Hollow to find Luke waiting for him, that had all changed. At first, he resisted. At first, he stubbornly stuck to his path of rebellion. Now, he would be the first to admit he had underestimated his uncle's tenacity. _The omnipresent flannel and backwards baseball cap certainly didn't help to inspire confidence in a person who apparently still hadn't mastered the art of shaving by the time he had reached his late thirties,_ Jess thought with a smirk.

But Luke never failed to surprise him. The moment his uncle had pushed him into the lake, Jess had begun to reassess his opponent, but it wasn't until later that night that the narrator showed up uninvited. _'__I am not letting you just fall off the face of the earth. You will not drift, I won't let it happen. Now I don't know if this is the right way to handle this, but this is the way it's being handled, and that my friend, is the end of this discussion,'_ James Earl Jones reminded him.

"Yes, thank you, I know," Jess muttered as he balanced the bottle cap on his thumb and then flicked it across the room with his middle finger. Luke had followed through on that promise with a fierce determination that would have impressed Patton with his tactical skills. Little by little he had been drawn in. Little by little, Luke's life, Luke's town, and eventually Luke's family, had become his family too. Most of the time, he hadn't even been aware that it was happening. Jess could remember the exact moment when it all became clear to him. He could recall vividly the overwhelming sense of right that coursed through his veins as the words left his mouth. Jess still derived a twisted little pleasure from the memory of the stunned expression on his uncle's face as he sat in Richard Gilmore's study and told him that he wanted what Luke had.

Jess leaned back against the counter as he took a long drink as he congratulated himself again on outflanking Luke. His small smile faded as he lowered the bottle and he recalled the fear he had also seen in his uncle's eyes that night. He shook his head to clear it and then turned his attention to the computer open on the cluttered table, staring at it malevolently. The thing just sat there, mocking him. A reminder of how far his life had strayed off course in the last few months. He leaned forward, and with one finger, pressed the power button. When the icons on the screen finished loading, he clicked the documents folder and then glared as three more folders popped up. The first read simply, 'Misc,' the second read, 'Crap,' but the third seemed to glow even brighter, beckoning to him with the power of an imaginary boost of LCD power. He stepped closer, his finger hovering over the mouse pad as he scowled at the third folder. Stubbornly, he scrolled over to 'Crap' and opened the folder. The screen populated with documents labeled with chapter numbers. He opened the latest, and started to read, as he did every night, hoping to pick up the thread of the story that had been left untouched since the night she showed up at his door. He sank slowly into the chair, trying to will himself into the moment, desperately wishing he could finish the unfinished sentence at the bottom of the page, but coming up blank.

With a disgusted sigh, Jess closed the folder and pressed his lips together in a grim line as the cursor highlighted the folder that read, 'Nuts'. _Open it, _James Earl Jones commanded. Almost of its own volition, his finger tapped the mouse and the icon displaying her name changed to a document file. With another tap, words filled the screen, and the traitorous cursor blinked furiously, happy to be where it wanted to be all along. He sneered at it, recalling the pages and pages of typed words he had deleted each night since she had left that drunken message on his machine. The rambling about Cara, and his insistence, even on paper, that any physical resemblance she and Rory may have shared was purely coincidental. The justifications which seemed too hollow for the page had to go. But there, on the page in front of him, was a long list of reasons why he and Rory should never be anything other than friends who happen to share relatives that married. He scanned the list again, nodding his head in agreement as he checked each one off in his mind. His eyes strayed to the lines he had typed above the list. His finger skimmed over the mouse pad, highlighting the text. For a moment, he watched dispassionately as his finger hovered over the delete button, but he was not shocked when his left hand joined in on the fun, pressing 'CRTL V' repeatedly until the screen was filled with the same text.

_He tried to tell himself that it was simply the allure of forbidden fruit; that you always want the one girl that you couldn't and shouldn't have. He tried to tell himself that, but he never believed his own lies._

When he finally regained control of that rebellious left hand, Jess skipped down to the next blank line and typed, _I suppose it is possible that I loved her the moment I saw her. You couldn't help but love her, she was beautiful, inside and out. Physically, it wasn't much of a shock. Her mother was beautiful too, but in a much more brash, 'Hey look at me' kind of way. Rory was so much like her, but so very different. Quieter, that's for sure. She seemed more intellectual, although Lorelai's personality masked a brain that was a force to be reckoned with in its own right. Her hair was not as dark and striking as her mother's, but it had a sheen of gloss that made a guy itch to touch it, just to see if it could possibly feel as silken as it looked. It did. It does. And the eyes… Was there a man alive that could resist the bright blue eyes of a Gilmore girl once they focused on him?_

Jess buried his face in his hands, rubbed his eyes roughly and then waited for them to refocus on the words he had typed. He blinked in time with the cursor and said softly, "I have to go."

XXXX

Rory's hands shook with emotion as she drove back to New Haven that night. She wasn't exactly sure what she had expected to happen when she stopped by Weston's, but judging by his calm demeanor in the diner earlier that day, it was safe to assume that she had hoped for better. All she could think about was the defeated tone of Jess' voice as he talked about the bloodlust Luke was sure to feel when and if he found out about them, and then asked her how he could possibly stay in Stars Hollow. Suddenly, she was overwhelmed with guilt as she pictured Luke, clearly trying to mask his fear as her mother explained her medical condition to her daughter, and realized that she may have just cost him Jess. Rory pulled off at the next exit, and coasted to a stop in the brightly lit lot of the nearest gas station. She put the car in park, and sat staring through the windshield as she gulped in deep breaths.

It was then that she truly realized that it wasn't just about what she wanted, or what Jess wanted. This was about all of them. They would all be affected. If Jess left Stars Hollow, Luke would be more devastated than he would ever admit to, her mother would be left to deal with the fallout from that, and Josh and Jake would be deprived of the cousin that they adored. And she would know, she would always know that she had been the cause. When she kissed him that night, it had seemed like the most natural thing in the world; that they were the only ones that mattered, that doing what felt good was the right thing to do. Even in Florida, after days and days of thinking of little else, she still only thought about her feelings or Jess' feelings. The impact that any romantic entanglement between the two of them might have on the rest of her family played only at the periphery, a pesky reminder that they were 'the kids' and that Lorelai and Luke would disapprove.

But this wasn't simply a matter of avoiding a parental lecture. She didn't fear being grounded, or her television privileges revoked. This wasn't something that they could do in a fit of adolescent rebellion and then thumb their noses at the people who loved them both, daring them to try to stop it. _This wasn't a Henry James novel, this was more akin to V.C. Andrews,_ she told herself. Rory immediately shook her head to dislodge the analogy as she muttered, "Okay, that's a little too extreme."

_It could really hurt, though, _she admitted to herself as she glanced at the clock and realized that if she didn't get back on the road, she couldn't get back to Yale before Luke began to worry, even though it was still more than an hour before the appointed time. _Hurt them all,_ she told herself sternly as she chewed her lower lip and shifted the car into gear. She wheeled out of the lot and headed for the on ramp again, her jaw set with determination as she tried to figure out a way for them to get past it and still keep Jess safely in Stars Hollow. _It was just a kiss, after all, _she justified, knowing even as the thought bounced around in her head that she was nothing but a big, fat liar.

XXXX

Jess had listened for the rumbling all day Monday, but nothing came. He hadn't seen or heard from Luke, and could only assume that with Lorelai away, he had spent the entire day trying to wrangle both the twins and Emily, and was thankful for the reprieve. By early Tuesday morning, he knew that his luck wasn't going to hold much longer when he saw Mrs. Cassini, Patty and Babette huddled together by the newsstand. When he passed by, he overheard Patty say to Mrs. Cassini, "We're going over there this morning to help Emily while Luke does some work, we'll see what we can find out."

Jess saw Babette nudge Patty roughly and then heard her say too loudly, "So it turns out, Luger's wife caught him at the motel with a transvestite!"

Jess ducked his head, filed away the information about Luke being at the diner that afternoon, and hurried past, anxious to seek refuge at the bakery. He stepped through the door, and nodded to Lisa, who was already at her usual spot behind the counter, boxing a coffeecake for one of the interchangeable Stars Hollow High moms in an obnoxiously appliquéd sweater. He breathed in deeply, trying to imprint the scent of freshly risen dough mixed with sweet sugar on his brain, knowing that this was probably the last day he would spend here. After taking care of a few tasks in the office, Jess stepped behind the counter and said to Lisa, "I'll take over out here if you want to finish decorating that cake."

"You need to work on your roses," Lisa answered with a smirk as she handed him a loaf of bread to be placed in the slicer.

Jess snorted and muttered, "Not a skill I anticipate needing."

"What if I get hit by a bus?" Lisa asked smartly as she brushed past him.

"I will weep rivers of tears," Jess answered in a deadpan tone. "And then Uncle Luke can become the sugar rose guy," he said with a careless shrug.

As Lisa rounded the corner to the back room she called, "Like he could do better than you? Not likely."

"Then don't get hit by a bus," Jess answered as he bagged the bread and handed it off to Pete.

After the morning rush, Jess wiped down the back counter, lost in thought. With a sigh of resignation, he tossed the towel down, glanced at the clock and turned to Lisa as he said, "If you can handle things here, I need to go talk to Luke about some stuff," and then started to head for the door.

"Hey, can you tell him that he needs to look at the second mixer?" she called after him. "The motor is making a really sick sound," she said with a shrug.

Jess nodded his acknowledgement as he backed through the door and then stepped out onto the deserted sidewalk. He glanced around at the empty square uneasily, wondering idly if the residents of this loony bin had somehow sensed the explosion that was about to come. Squaring his shoulders, he set out for Luke's at a brisk pace, keeping his hands in his pockets and his eyes fixed firmly on the sidewalk in front of him. When the bells heralded his arrival, Caesar peeked out of the kitchen and gave him an abashed wave as he tried to chew quickly and swallow whatever it was he had stuffed into his cheeks.

"Luke here?" Jess asked abruptly. Caesar nodded, a guilty flush rising in his puffed cheeks as he chewed furiously and pointed to the back of the diner. Jess smirked and said, "You're just lucky Lorelai is out of town. That was the last sprinkled," as he headed for the store room.

He rounded the corner in time to see Luke toss the clipboard and pencil onto the table and rub his eyes with his balled fists. "Hey," Jess called from the doorway.

Luke looked up, embarrassed by being caught and said tersely, "Oh, hey."

"You okay?" Jess asked cautiously.

"Just trying to figure out what to do about some stuff," Luke said with a dismissive shake of his head.

"I'm leaving," Jess said with a definitive nod.

"Okay," Luke said with a nod.

"Lisa can handle the bakery, she's good," Jess told him. "I may need to come back later and pack up some stuff from the apartment, though. I'm only taking what I can carry with me," he explained as he shoved his hands into his back pockets.

Luke's brow creased into a frown as he said, "Wait. Leaving, leaving?" he asked incredulously. "Leaving town?"

Jess nodded and said, "I'll be gone by tomorrow, I promise," trying to ignore the sharp ache in his chest. He pushed his hand deep into his pocket, resisting the urge to try to rub the pain away.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up," Luke snapped, holding his hand up to stop Jess. "What the hell are you talking about? Why are you leaving?" he demanded. "You can't just up and leave. Damn it, Jess, what's going on?"

Jess eyed his uncle as he asked cautiously, "You haven't heard anything?"

"Heard anything about what?" Luke asked in an irritated tone.

"About me," Jess answered slowly.

"About you? What about you? Are you in trouble?" Luke asked quickly.

"Not yet, apparently," Jess muttered as he stared down at his shoes, smirking at the fact that the one time he was sure it would work, the Stars Hollow gossip mill had ground to a halt before the juicy stuff had reached Luke. Jess looked up and said, "I think we'd better talk."

"Talk? Talk about what?" Luke asked.

"Would you come upstairs?" Jess asked impatiently. "I don't want to talk about this down here," he added as he turned and walked to the steps leading to the apartment.

Luke's shoulders slumped tiredly as he stared at Jess' retreating back and he blew out a breath as he walked slowly to the door and followed his nephew up to his dad's old office. He closed the door behind them, walked over to the kitchen table to pull out a chair, and dropped down into it heavily. "What's this leaving crap?" he growled. Jess pulled two bottles of beer from the fridge and placed one in front of Luke, who waved at it and said, "Too early."

"Open it, you're gonna want it," Jess warned as he tossed his cap aside, glad that he had finally broken down and cleaned up the apartment a little in anticipation of his departure. When Luke made no move to pick the bottle up, Jess raised his and took a long drink of his beer. Luke watched as he lowered the bottle, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand before saying in a low voice, "I kissed Rory."

Luke's jaw dropped as he blinked in confusion and then said, "Huh?"

"Rory, I kissed Rory. Actually, she kissed me, if you want to know the truth," Jess answered as he swallowed nervously.

Luke stared at Jess open-mouthed and then said, "No you didn't."

"Yes, I did," Jess countered.

"No," Luke said as he shook his head.

Jess pointed to his chest with the same hand that clutched his bottle of beer and said, "I should know, I was there, you weren't."

"You can't kiss Rory," Luke started to say.

Jess nodded and said, "Yes, I got that memo the week I moved here, but I guess someone forgot to give Rory her copy."

Luke frowned in confusion and pointed to Jess as he asked, "Wait, so, Rory kissed you?"

"Technically, yes," Jess answered.

"Why?" Luke asked incredulously.

"Hey!" Jess said, taking offense at his uncle's tone.

"Oh, come on, Jess," Luke said angrily. "Do you mean to tell me that Rory just woke up one day and said, 'Hey, you know what? I'm gonna go kiss my cousin,'?" he asked as he stood up to pace the room, exceedingly careful to place his hand on the back of his own neck rather than Jess' throat.

"We're not cousins," Jess pointed out quietly.

"Might as well be!" Luke yelled as he flung his arm out.

"But we're not!" Jess shot back, unable to resist arguing the point.

Luke looked over at Jess and asked, "What happened? What's been going on? How long has it been going on?"

Jess shook his head and said, "It's not like that. Nothing has been going on really," he said as he sat down in one of the chairs.

"Apparently, something has been," Luke pointed out.

Jess picked up the untouched beer and asked, "Want this now?"

Luke snatched the bottle from Jess' hand and twisted the cap off as he growled, "Spill it before I rip it out of you."

Jess smiled as he looked down at the table, well aware of the fact that if Luke wanted to do him bodily harm, he would have inflicted it by now. "Nothing really has been going on. We're friends, just like we always have been," he said firmly.

"Kissing friends?" Luke sneered. He dropped back into his chair and asked, "Are you, whaddayacallit," he muttered as he tried to remember the term Lorelai liked to use to describe their relationship. "Are there benefits, is that it?" he asked incredulously.

"Geez, no," Jess groaned. "Stop watchin' daytime television," he muttered.

"Are you together? Wait, what about Cara?" Luke asked as he set his bottle down on the table with a 'clunk' and leaned forward.

"We aren't together. Me and Rory or me and Cara," Jess clarified. "You called it right on that one," he said as he toasted Luke with his beer.

"Didn't wanna be right," Luke said as he ran his hand over his face tiredly. "You're not together, but she kissed you. It was a real kiss, right? Not like a peck on the cheek?" he asked warily.

"You want the details?" Jess asked laconically.

"Hell no," Luke muttered. He looked across the table at his nephew. Jess was obviously waiting for him to say something. To give his blessing, to kick his ass or to kick him out, but Luke was coming up empty. On one hand, he wanted to throttle the little punk, shove him out the door and tell him never to come back again. On the other hand, he could see it. See them together. As much as he hated to admit it, Rory and Jess had more in common than any two people he knew. Luke dropped his face to his hands and asked in a muffled voice, "What are you expecting me to say here?"

"I wasn't really sure," Jess admitted.

"What are you going to do?" Luke asked cautiously as he looked up at Jess.

"I have no idea," Jess admitted frankly.

Luke nodded, sitting back in his seat with a huff of breath and reaching for the bottle of beer in front of him. He took a small sip and said, "I can't answer this for you. I can't tell you how I feel about it because I don't know. I have no idea what Lorelai would say, and I don't even know if it matters because no one knows what Rory wants anyway." He rapped his knuckles on the table and stood up slowly as he asked, "When did this happen?"

"The night before she went to Florida," Jess answered.

"I see," Luke said as he digested the information. He nodded and said, "I can't think about this now, Jess. There's too much going on," he said in a defeated tone. Luke looked at Jess steadily as he said, "You're gonna have to talk to Rory, figure out what this all means, and let me know when you know." When Jess nodded mutely, Luke stepped over to him and gave him a hard pat on the shoulder. "Good luck," he said gruffly and then made his way to the door, closing it quietly behind him.

Jess closed his eyes as he took another long drink of his beer and then muttered, "Well, that went well." He waited a few minutes, finishing his beer slowly, hoping Luke would leave before he had to go back down the stairs. He sat replaying the conversation in his head, trying to remember if it was ever said if he was supposed to stay or go. Jess stood up slowly and looked around at the apartment. He stared at the nautical prints Luke had hung on the walls that he had built for them and mocked himself mercilessly as he felt a lump rise in his throat. He opened the apartment door and walked slowly down the stairs. As he passed the store room, he saw Luke staring blankly at the clipboard he clutched in both hands. He paused, hovering in the doorway until his presence was sensed and Luke looked up at him questioningly.

"Not to rip off Mick Jones or anything, because, frankly, I always thought The Clash was highly overrated, borderline lame, if you want to know how I really feel…" Jess rambled nervously.

"What?" Luke asked as he shook his head in confusion.

"Should I stay or should I go now?" Jess asked with a twitch of his lips.

"I thought Joe Strummer was The Clash guy," Luke said with a frown. When Jess barked a surprised laugh, Luke smirked and asked, "Did you forget who I live with?" He looked over at his nephew, shifting anxiously from foot to foot as he tried to keep his face impassive and Luke softened a little. "Stay. Please. We'll figure it out," he said quietly.

Jess nodded and looked anywhere but at Luke as he said, "I guess I should get back to work, then."

Luke nodded once and said gruffly, "Yeah, get back to work."

"The second mixer is acting up," Jess reported.

Luke looked down at the nonsensical inventory he had attempted and muttered, "Then fix it," without looking in Jess' direction again.

Jess nodded and spun on his heel, anxious to make his escape before Luke could change his mind. He hurried through the diner and out into the pale March sunlight. He blinked as he saw children playing in the square and shoppers bustling up and down the sidewalks as they ran their errands, and wondered if the all clear had been signaled and how he had missed the sound of the air raid siren perched atop the church. Averting his gaze from the passersby, Jess hunched his shoulders against the cool breeze and walked quickly back to the bakery. When he stepped back into the familiar warmth, he looked up to find Lisa watching him with a curious gaze. Jess jerked his chin at the back room and said, "Okay, show me again."

"What?" Lisa asked as she followed in his wake.

Jess picked up a canvas pastry bag loaded with pink frosting and plucked a sheet of precut waxed paper from a box, spreading it over the work surface before twisting the end of the pastry bag and forcing the frosting to the tip. "Stupid roses," he muttered. "I'm much better at the squiggly things."

XXXX

Luke sped north on I-90, his wrist draped over the top of the steering wheel as his mind raced even faster than his old truck. He glanced over at the garment bag Emily had packed for him, and all but shoved into his arms as he walked down the stairs freshly showered and prepared to grovel at Lorelai feet. He wondered how he would erase the hurt that his fear and insecurity had inflicted on them. A tiny part of him still worried that she hadn't denied the attraction she had felt toward Ben Larson, and wondered is his doubts had driven her further from him and closer to the other man. Luke dismissed that thought immediately, his heart knowing with a certainty that his head may not feel, that it was impossible. She loved him. That he knew for sure.

_It was stress_, he told himself firmly. And it was. He didn't really doubt Lorelai. He didn't doubt her devotion to him or to their family. All of them, including Jess, even though he wasn't truly either of theirs. _Jess,_ he thought with a sigh. _Jess and Rory,_ his mind echoed. Luke struggled to wrap his mind around it, but it all seemed too implausible. But it wasn't really. This was what they had both worried about since the moment that they realized that Rory and Jess had developed a special kind of friendship of their own. _Don't think about it,_ he told himself sternly. _Not yet._

Luke blinked, trying to keep his focus on the road in front of him. He couldn't think about it now. He needed to fix things with Lorelai first. He needed to fix things and bring her home. Home with their boys, where their musical laughter could chase the worry away, where a four-to-a-bed cuddle could make even Taylor Doose tolerable, and a simple smile from Lorelai was enough to make him feel like the man of steel he wished he was. He drummed his fingers on the wheel as he looked up at the road signs, careful not to miss his exit. He needed to fix things with Lorelai so that all could be right in his world. And then, together, they would figure out how to handle all the rest.

XXXX

When her phone rang for the fifth time that night, Rory almost ignored it. She capped her pink hi-lighter with a disgruntled sigh, and picked it up, check the display for her mother's number, the only one she would answer. She blinked as she stared at the tiny window displaying the caller's information, and murmured, "Except this one," as she flipped the phone open with her thumb. "Hello?" she said cautiously.

"I told Luke," Jess said without preamble.

"What?" Rory asked, sitting straight up in her chair and tossing the hi-lighter down on top of her Philosophy book.

"I told him that we kissed. This morning," Jess said quickly. Rory gaped in stunned silence as she tried to process the information. "Not that we kissed this morning, that we have kissed, and I told him about it. This morning," he told her in a desperate attempt at clarity.

Finding her voice at last, Rory finally asked, "Why?"

"Because, I had to tell him why I was leaving," Jess answered.

"Where are you?" she demanded.

"My apartment," he said with a shrug.

"Well, what did he say?" Rory asked as she stood up to pace the room, tucking her hair behind her ear nervously.

"Well, after telling me that we were cousins, and asking if we were friends with benefits, he wanted to know how long this had been going on," Jess answered with a smirk.

"Nothing has been going on!" Rory cried indignantly.

"Nothing?" Jess asked as his eyebrows shot up.

"Well, nothing like that," Rory amended quickly. She paused for a second and ten said, "Well, you're apparently breathing, so he didn't kill you. That's a good sign," she said slowly.

"Still in one piece," Jess confirmed.

"And you're at the apartment, so you haven't left Stars Hollow," Rory said as she mentally checked off another possible outcome.

"I am still here," Jess answered.

"So, how did you guys leave it?" Rory asked hesitantly.

"He said that there was too much going on, that he couldn't think about that right now, and that I needed to talk to you to sort it all out," Jess said with a heavy sigh. "Woulda been easier if he had just put me on a bus again," he mumbled.

"You have a car," Rory pointed out nonsensically.

"Yes, thanks to Luke," Jess said dryly. "Everything I have is thanks to Luke," he said, his impatience growing. "Everything I am right now is because of Luke, and you should have seen his face, Rory," he said hoarsely.

"Oh Jess," she said softly.

"I should have punched him in the gut, it probably would have been easier," Jess told her. "Well, easier on him, I probably would have broken a knuckle if he tensed up. For an old guy, he's pretty solid," Jess added with a smirk.

"Rock solid," Rory murmured. "And not just, you know, physically," she babbled.

"I yanked the rug out from under him," Jess said dispiritedly.

Rory took a deep breath and said, "Okay, while this was probably not something he wanted to hear, I don't think that what you told him is the only thing that's bothering him. As a matter of fact, I know it isn't," she said gently.

"No? Because it looked like I peed in his Cheerios," Jess told her.

"Mom is having, uh, some health issues," Rory began slowly.

"Health issues? Lorelai?" Jess asked as he dropped down into the ancient armchair next to the couch.

"Nothing life threatening. More of the female variety," Rory explained awkwardly.

"Oh," Jess said, making a face as he looked around the empty apartment to be sure that no one was there to witness the flush creeping up his neck.

"She has to have surgery. Next week as a matter of fact," Rory told him. "I'm sure Luke would have said something to you about it. Probably very cryptically," she added with a smirk. "He's kind of freaked out, though. You can see it in his eyes. I think he's afraid that it will turn into something more serious than it is," she explained.

"Because of Granddad," Jess said quietly as he nodded his understanding.

"You can't leave, Jess," Rory implored. "I've been wanting to call you, but I didn't know if you would even listen to me. You can't leave," she said urgently. "It would hurt him too badly," she said in a worried tone.

"I'm not leaving," he assured her.

"You're not?" she asked, a spark of hope flaring in her heart.

"Joe Strummer said I had to stay," Jess answered with a nod.

"Joe Strummer?" Rory asked blankly, and Jess waited patiently for her to catch up. She thought for a moment and then smiled a little as she said, "Oh. That was Mick Jones."

"I know that, but I had to put it into a context that Luke would understand," Jess replied with a shrug.

Rory smiled and said, "I'm so glad."

"We need to talk," Jess said, his voice low and husky.

"I know," Rory whispered.

"It's not going to just go away," he said in a defeated tone.

"No, I don't think so," Rory agreed.

"I think we both need to think about this, you know, how we really feel," Jess said gruffly.

"Yeah," she agreed.

"But we should talk, um, to each other about it," he finished uncertainly.

"Yeah, that would be good. We both have some, uh, issues to work out," Rory said, cautiously hopeful.

"Yeah, so, I'll call you?" he said questioningly.

"Yeah, that would be good," Rory answered, suddenly feeling shy.

Jess hesitated for a moment and then said, "Rory? I, uh, may not have acted like it, so just in case you're thinking anything different…"

"Yeah?" Rory asked when he paused a moment too long.

"It was a really good kiss," he said quietly. "Goodnight, Rory," Jess said to the stunned silence on the other end of the phone, and then he quickly disconnected. He held the phone in his hand for a moment, half wishing that it would ring, but knowing that it wouldn't. Finally, he pushed himself up out of the chair and walked over to the kitchen table. He stood with his hands gripping the back of the chair as he watched the cursor blinking at him enticingly. _Write it,_ James Earl Jones commanded. Jess rolled his eyes and pulled the chair out a bit. He sat down in front of the keyboard and said to the empty room, "If you build it, they will come, right? Right," he answered himself as his fingers began to peck out letters. Picking up speed, the letters soon formed words, the words became sentences, and the sentences became a paragraph, then two and three. When the paragraphs filled the page, Jess scrolled back up to the top and began to read. When he reached the bottom of the page again, he nodded and said with a smirk, "Better change the names to protect the innocent, right James? Right," he said with a satisfied smile.

XXXX

In a strange bed in a strange hotel room in a strange city, they talked softly as they lie entwined, his leg over hers, her arm banded across his stomach. Luke ran his hand lazily through Lorelai's hair, letting it filter through his fingers as he had Jake's just hours before. "She kissed him?" Lorelai asked again.

"That's the story," Luke answered patiently.

"Rory and Jess," Lorelai said in a bewildered voice.

Luke groaned and said, "I don't even wanna think about it."

Lorelai shrugged and said, "Well, they're not related."

"So I hear," Luke muttered.

"And even if they were, they could always move to Arkansas," she joked.

"I thought it was Kentucky," Luke said gruffly.

"Alabama," Lorelai said with a grin.

"There's something to be said for that whole, 'Don't ask, don't tell' thing," he grumbled.

"You may be right," Lorelai conceded. They fell silent, Lorelai absently running her fingers through the hair on his chest. She frowned and asked, "Do you think my mother didn't pack you any pajamas on purpose?"

Luke groaned again and said, "Well, she remembered to pack a razor, so it's possible."

Lorelai turned her head to look up at him, waiting patiently until his eyes met hers. "Babe, you have to realize that I could never cheat on you because you would know, and you can never cheat on me because you're a crappy liar," she told him.

"I thought I was a crappy husband," he reminded her.

"And liar," she said with a nod. She turned her head to look up at him and said, "I can't tell you how happy I am right now."

"Right now?" Luke asked.

"Well, I wasn't very happy earlier today," she grumbled as she pressed her cheek to his chest again.

"Me either," Luke told her as he rubbed his hand over her arm. "How about yesterday? Were you happy then?" he asked.

Lorelai frowned as she thought for a moment and said, "Up until last night, yeah it was a pretty good day."

"Last week, were you happy last week?" he asked her.

Lorelai turned to look at him again and asked, "When last week?"

"In general," he said with a shrug.

Lorelai cocked her head as she looked at him, trying to figure out what he was getting at. "In general, yes. Why?" she asked.

"Are you content? With you and me, us. Are you content with us?" he asked her.

Lorelai made a face as she asked, "Content? I'm beyond content, Luke."

Luke shook his head slowly and said, "No, there's nothing beyond content."

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

Luke shrugged again and said, "Content means, comfortable, secure, happy, satisfied, right? Why is it bad to be content, always happy, always satisfied?"

Lorelai smiled and kissed him gently before snuggling into his neck and saying, "I am so content."

They talked in hushed voices for what seemed like minutes, but what was probably hours. As his answers started coming a little more slowly, and his breathing became a little deeper, Lorelai smiled and pecked an absent kiss to his chest. "Don't worry anymore," she whispered into the darkness. "Everything is going to be okay. We're all going to be okay," she assured him.

"That's my line," Luke answered in a raspy voice.

"Well, what's yours is mine," Lorelai answered with a contented smile.

XXXX

_Despite her cautious nature, her mind was quick and facile, grasping information, processing it quickly, and storing it away for future reference. Very little escaped her interest, and even topics that didn't particularly fascinate her, were kept, just in case they were ever needed. This is what most people missed when they met her. She was shy, self effacing, and a tad bit unsure of her beauty. These things were easy to see by the way she held herself. But if you took the time to scratch the surface, you would find a backbone forged by strength of character, confidence borne of a willingness to work hard, and ambition that drove her to reach beyond the tiny town that she loved as home. This, the whole incredible package, is what drew him like a moth to a flame. She was irresistible, and she didn't even know it. To him, that was the most entrancing thing of all._

Jess clicked on the tiny icon of a diskette to save the night's work, and then powered the computer down. He looked at the table, a frown creasing his brow when he found it free of beer bottles and crushed cigarette butts. He smirked as he pushed his chair back and glanced at the ceiling as he asked James Earl Jones, "How could you have let this happen? Dylan Thomas would be so ashamed."


	3. The Mandarin Grill

**The Mandarin Grill**

"Hello?" Jess said as he quickly flipped his cell phone open, ignoring the fact that the pocket of his jeans was now dusted with flour from his hands.

"Incoming," Rory said ominously.

"Landshark," Jess answered as he tucked the phone to his ear and walked over to the sink to wash his hands.

"Danger, Will Robinson, my mother is on her way to New Haven," Rory told him.

"She is? Didn't she just get back?" Jess asked.

"Yesterday," Rory confirmed. "Apparently, the Dragonfly won the cover story for the magazine," she told him.

"Hey, that's good," Jess answered with a nod.

"Yes, she's coming down and we're going out to dinner to celebrate," Rory said as she straightened the books on her desk.

"And aside from the massive amounts of food I'm sure the two of you will consume, how is this dangerous?" Jess asked.

"She's been home with Luke and her precious boys less than one day and she suddenly has the urge to explore the culinary offerings of New Haven?" Rory asked dryly.

"Ah, well, you are her precious girl," Jess pointed out.

"Yes, I am, but she's used to going more than 24 hours without seeing me. She doesn't like to go more than three hours without seeing Josh and Jake," Rory retaliated.

"Well, maybe the new has worn off now," Jess suggested.

"Or Luke blabbed and she's coming to interrogate me," Rory said glumly.

Jess smirked as he wiped his hands on a towel and said, "Well, that is a distinct possibility."

"Yeah, well, don't be so smug, that leaves Luke at loose ends for the night too," Rory pointed out archly.

"Crap," Jess muttered as he tossed the towel onto the counter.

"Uh huh. Divide and conquer," Rory answered with a nod.

"Luke isn't that clever," Jess muttered, knowing that it wasn't true even as the words left his lips.

"If it makes you feel better to believe that," Rory said with a knowing smirk.

Jess glanced nervously around the back room and asked, "So, uh, do we need some sort of plan?"

"What kind of plan?" Rory asked.

"I don't know. Some kind of party line," he said with a shrug.

Rory nodded slowly as she moved around her room, straightening things that had already been straightened, and smoothing a bedspread that was already smooth. "I like, 'Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Willis?' but I think it's already taken," she said with a nervous laugh.

Jess chuckled and asked, "So I guess, 'Where's the beef?' is out?"

Rory nodded and said, "Yes, Clara, you'll have to come up with something else."

"How about, 'It's none of your damn business,' would that work?" Jess muttered as he stared down at his shoes.

Rory's smile softened as she said gently, "Probably not, since it sort of is their business."

"Yeah," Jess answered softly as he tipped his head back to work the kinks out of his neck.

"I think I'm going with, 'I don't know, but I'll let you know as soon as I do,' or something like that," Rory told him.

"That could work," Jess admitted grudgingly. He paused for a moment and then asked, "What do you want to tell her?"

Rory smiled as she said, "I don't know, but I'll let you know as soon as I do."

"You do that," Jess said with a chuckle.

"Jess?" Rory asked tentatively.

"Yeah?"

"Would you be able to come down sometime this weekend? Maybe get a pizza or something?" she asked.

A smile curved his lips as he asked, "Are you asking me out on a date?"

"No!" Rory said quickly. "I just, I thought, you know, we could talk," she finished lamely.

"Saturday okay?" he asked.

"Saturday is okay. Great," she amended quickly.

"Saturday," Jess confirmed with a nod.

XXXX

Rory opened the door to find her mother beaming brightly. "Hello, favorite female child of mine," Lorelai said, the volume of her voice betraying her nervousness a bit.

"Hello, only mother I have ever had, therefore leaving me no other viable option," Rory answered as she stepped back to allow Lorelai to enter.

"Ah, that's not entirely true. You had Mommy Sherry," Lorelai reminded Rory with an impish grin.

"Yes, well, all of that quality bonding time she and I had never quite paid off," Rory said as she was enveloped in her mother's arms.

Lorelai leaned back to look at her and asked playfully, "Have you grown?"

Rory kept her face solemn and said, "Only my ego."

"Good, you were entirely too modest before," Lorelai said with a nod as she glanced around the common room. "Is Paris out?" she asked.

"Yeah, she's at the law library looking something up," Rory said with a nod.

"She's not representing herself again, is she? You know, they tell you on all of the lawyer shows not to do that," Lorelai said with a smirk.

"She and Doyle are having an argument," Rory said with a shrug. "You know Paris, she likes to have precedent to back her up."

Lorelai laughed as Rory gathered her purse and a sweater. "You hungry?" she asked.

"Are you my mother?" Rory answered with a smirk.

"Where should we go?" Lorelai asked as she followed Rory to the door.

"I have an idea," Rory said with a nod.

As Rory locked the door behind them, Lorelai said, "Hey, I see that they have a new coffee cart. That's handy, huh," as she jerked her thumb at the front of the building.

"Is he still out there?" Rory asked in an annoyed tone.

"The coffee guy?" Lorelai asked, bewildered by Rory's sudden change in attitude. "Uh, I guess so, I mean, I don't know how late he stays open," Lorelai said with a quizzical frown.

"He's mine," Rory snarled as she stalked toward the door.

"Yours? I know that Paris likes the older guys, but I'm not sure that the coffee guy is your type," Lorelai said as she scurried after her daughter. "My type, definitely, but I'm a married woman," she tried to joke as she pushed through the doors on Rory's heels.

Rory made a beeline for the coffee cart, and when he saw her approach, he jumped up from the low wall he had been perched on and plucked a cup from the stack on the cart. Rory held up a hand to stop him and said earnestly, "Listen, I don't know how much he's paying you, but really, I meant it when I said to go home."

"I usually work until ten," the man answered with a shrug.

"Well, make it an early night," Rory told him. "Really, I don't need any more coffee," she told him.

"Rory!" Lorelai gasped in a wounded tone.

Rory turned to look at her mother and explained, "Logan paid him to follow me around all day."

"All day?" Lorelai asked in an awed tone. When Rory shot her a steely glare, Lorelai shrugged and held her palms up openly as she said, "Aw, come on, that's pretty good, Hon."

"Yes, he's no dummy," Rory said dryly. She turned back to the man and said, "Tell you what, why don't you pour us two grandes and then, if you don't want to go home you can park outside of the library and hand out all of the free coffee you want."

"Two grandes coming up," he said with a nod.

"I want caramel," Lorelai said quickly.

Rory rolled her eyes and said, "Add the whipped cream and sprinkles. Load it up, and be sure that you charge Mr. Huntzberger extra," she said with a cheeky grin.

"You got it, Miss," the man answered with a cheerful nod.

As they walked away clutching their cups, Lorelai glanced over at Rory and asked, "He bought out the cart for a day?"

Rory nodded and took a cautious sip from her cup. She looked over at Lorelai and said, "Just the latest ploy."

"Because extra foam makes up for extra blondes?" Lorelai asked with a snort.

"I guess in his mind it does," Rory muttered. She peeked at Lorelai out of the corner of her eye, but kept her face pointed straight ahead as she said, "It wasn't just the blondes."

"No," Lorelai answered cautiously.

"I assume you've heard," Rory said as she risked a quick glance at her mother.

Lorelai wanted to say something quick and clever, but for once, she came up empty. "Yeah," she admitted softly.

Rory nodded as she turned the corner and led Lorelai toward the edge of campus. She nodded to a restaurant across the street and asked, "Pizza buffet?"

"Two of my favorite words," Lorelai answered.

"Thought it would be a hit," Rory said with a smirk as she stepped off of the curb.

Lorelai was uncharacteristically quiet as they wandered into the brightly lit pizza parlor that catered to the campus crowd. Minutes later, their plates were heaped with pizza, pasta and garlic bread. Lorelai settled into her chair and eyed her plate with a gleam in her eye. "It's almost too pretty to eat," she said wistfully.

"Here," Rory said as she took her phone from her purse, flipped it open, and snapped a quick picture of Lorelai's food. "Better?" she asked as she turned the display for her mother to see.

Lorelai smiled warmly and said in a heartfelt tone, "Thank you," before she lifted the top slice from the pile and bit into it with an appreciative moan. As she chewed, she nudged a small bowl of French dressing closer to Rory, who smiled and dipped the tip of her pizza into the bowl. While Rory focused on her plate, Lorelai swallowed quickly and said, "So, kissing Jess?"

Rory's lips twitched as she looked up in surprise and whispered, "Zing."

Lorelai shrugged and admitted, "I don't know how to talk about this, so maybe we should just talk about it."

Rory nodded and plucked a piece of pepperoni from her pizza. She popped it into her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. "I kissed Jess," she confessed softly.

Lorelai nodded and said, "That's the word on the streets." At Rory's shocked expression, Lorelai hastened to add, "Not really, I mean, that's what Luke told me that Jess told him."

Rory took a sip of her soda and then said, "There's something going on between us."

Lorelai nodded and said cautiously, "It would seem that way," and waited patiently for Rory to go on.

Rory looked down at her plate and said, "I don't know when it started. Maybe it's been there all along. Jess and I have always," she paused and looked around at the crowded pizza parlor as she searched for the right words. "He gets me," she finally said with a small shrug.

Lorelai plucked a piece of garlic bread apart as she tried to choose her words carefully. "I get that," she said with a nod. "Um, are you sure you're not confusing, uh, comfort, for something more?" she asked with a slight wince.

Rory shook her head and said quietly, "No. I'm not sure of that at all."

"Oh," Lorelai said, taken aback by her daughter's blunt response.

"I mean, both Jess and I have had some, um, disappointments, in our dating lives," she said with a chuckle. "Logically, I know it's easier to fall back on someone you know, someone you know that you can trust," she admitted. When Lorelai shifted uncomfortably in her seat, Rory rushed to add, "But I don't think that's it, Mom. That's why we're both trying to talk about it, to take a little time to see if this is something real or not," she explained.

"I see," Lorelai said softly.

"We know that it complicates things," Rory assured her. "We know what people will think. We know how worried you and Luke must be," Rory said with a weak smile. "We know that this can change everything," Rory finished so quietly that Lorelai almost didn't hear her over the din.

Lorelai leaned forward and said in an urgent whisper, "I need you to be careful. Not just for you, because you know I would rather chop my arm off than to see you hurt again, but for Jess too."

"I know, Mom," Rory said with a nod.

"Luke," Lorelai said, and then stopped herself.

Rory nodded and then said, "Is in the toughest spot. I know that," she assured Lorelai.

"Jess told Luke that he was going to leave Stars Hollow," Lorelai said in a worried tone.

"I know, but he won't," Rory said confidently. She smiled a little and said, "He was afraid that Luke would kill him."

Lorelai nodded and then said, "And he still manned up and told him."

Rory nodded. "You know, Jess feels things a lot more deeply than he will ever let on. He really doesn't want to hurt Luke, Mom. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure that if he had to choose between Luke and me, Luke would win," Rory said with quiet conviction.

"Really?" Lorelai asked as she sat back in her chair, her face slack with surprise.

Rory lifted one shoulder in a shrug and said, "They're guys. They aren't gonna put it out there, but yeah. Jess knows what Luke has been to him. He's been like you have been for me. Always there, always trying to do the right thing," she said with a nod.

"And if Luke objected? If I did?" Lorelai asked in a stunned tone.

Rory frowned and said, "I don't know. I guess we'd just learn to deal."

"Deal? You mean, like not try figure this out?" Lorelai asked incredulously.

Rory folded her arms over the edge of the table and looked at her mother frankly as she said, "I know what's at stake here. Jess does too. If it came to that, I think we would both try to back away," she said slowly as she eyed the mostly untouched mountain of food on her plate. She slowly looked up and met Lorelai's eyes as she whispered, "I really hope it doesn't come to that."

Lorelai looked at the young woman she had raised, seeing the worry in her frown, the steel in her spine, and the hope that shimmered in the eyes that were so like her own. She sighed and said, "Oh, Sweets, it won't come to that." She reached over and gave Rory's hand a squeeze as she said, "Just be careful, okay? It would kill us to see either one of you hurt, and I really don't want to have to disembowel Jess. We've finally gotten to a good spot," she said with a teasing smile. When Rory didn't return the smile, she leaned in and said, "Really, Hon, we just want you both to be happy. If you guys decide that this is what will make you both happy, well, then Luke and I will just have to deal, won't we?" she said with a decisive nod.

Rory nodded and offered her mother a tremulous smile as she said, "Well, I don't know, but I'll let you know as soon as I do."

Lorelai nodded and said, "Yeah. Do that." She looked down at their plates and said, "Man, we need to eat up. I saw cannoli on the dessert table."

"Well, as long as you aren't packing a gun, it should be all good," Rory said as she slipped her hand out from under Lorelai's and picked up the top slice of pizza again. "The dressing is what makes it," she said as she dipped it into the bowl again.

Lorelai smiled and said, "I know! To think that people waste this stuff on salad," she said with a sad shake of her head as she dunked her pizza into the French dressing and then took an appreciative bite.

XXXX

A couple of hours after Rory's phone call, Jess glanced up to see Luke pushing the twins along the sidewalk in their stroller. He tried to hide his smirk when he saw the look of grim determination on his uncle's face, and pretended to be busy restocking bakery boxes and bags under the counter. He heard Luke Muttering as he opened the glass door and tried to maneuver the double stroller through. After being impeded by his foot once again, Luke barked, "Door!"

Jess tried not to chuckle as he rounded the end of the counter, and pushed Luke back out onto the sidewalk so that he could hold the door open for him to push the stroller through. "Man, you suck at that," he said mockingly.

"Damn thing is like pushing a Sherman tank around town," Luke grumbled.

"Jeh!" Josh said happily as he held the squishy ball he clutched in his hand out to his cousin.

"Hey," Jess said as he gave the little boy a crooked grin. "You keep it," he said as he nodded to the ball. He looked over at Jake's grave face and asked, "Man, am I in trouble or what?"

Jake's thoughtful frown melted into a grin as he heard Jess' voice. "Bah," he said by way of greeting.

"Humbug," Jess answered with a nod. "Except, that would make you Ebenezer, not Jacob," he told the little boy solemnly. He looked up at Luke and asked, "Boys' night out?"

"Lorelai went to see Rory," Luke said with a shrug.

"Yes, I heard," Jess said dryly. "I guess you're here to cover the local angle. Tea?" he asked as he turned back to the counter.

"Please," Luke said as he dropped into a chair with a sigh. "Jess," he began hesitantly.

"Gimme just a sec," Jess said as he poured hot water into a mug and added a tea bag, dangling the string over the side. He plated a few sugar cookies, grabbed a bottle of water from the small display cooler at the end of the counter and carried it all over to the table where Luke sat. He smirked and said, "Makes it all so much more civilized, don't you think?" Jess went back behind the counter to pour himself a cup of coffee as Luke pulled the boys' sippy cups from the diaper bag stowed under the stroller.

Jess sat down across from his uncle and twisted the cap off of the bottle of water as Luke loosened the lids on the twins' cups and then took the bottle to pour a little water into each one. Once Jake and Josh clutched their cups in their hands, Luke removed the tea bag from his mug, concentrating a little too hard on wrapping it around a spoon to drain it. "We just want to know what's going on," he said quietly.

Jess nodded and said, "Well, pretty much what I told you the other day."

"Have you talked to her?" Luke asked.

Jess smirked and said, "No, I dropped a tracking device into Lorelai's purse, that's how I knew she was going to New Haven."

"Right," Luke answered, rolling his eyes. He looked over at Jess warily and asked, "You gonna help me out here?"

"Nope," Jess said as he took a tentative sip of his coffee.

Luke blew out an impatient breath and snapped, "Are you dating Rory or not?"

Jess frowned as if in deep concentration and answered, "Dating? No, I guess not officially."

"Unofficially?" Luke demanded.

"We are discussing the possibility of there being something a little more than friendship between us," Jess answered in a stiffly formal tone.

"Jess, please," Luke said with an exasperated sigh. "You know I don't want to butt in, but you know I have to," he insisted.

Jess shook his head and said, "Nothing has changed, Luke. We've talked on the phone. We might get together for pizza or something this weekend," he said with a shrug. "There's nothing clandestine, nothing hot and heavy going on." When Luke eyed him skeptically, Jess held up his hands defensively and said, "Seriously, she hasn't jumped me again."

Luke shook his head and stared down into his tea as if it held all of the answers. "I don't know what to do," he murmured.

Jess lifted his chin slightly and asked, "Who said that you had to do anything?"

Luke looked up and said, "It's too complicated."

"Falling for your best friend?" Jess asked pointedly. "Yes, I guess I should apologize to you now for blowing you so much crap about Lorelai," Jess said as he sat back and crossed his arms over his chest.

Luke looked at the sugar cookies arranged on the plate, and smiled slightly. "I guess I can't blame you for that," Luke said as he broke a bit of cookie off, and handed a tiny bite to each of the boys.

Jess laughed and said, "I can't believe you just did that."

"What?" Luke asked blankly.

Jess jerked his head toward the stroller and said, "You just fed them cookie."

Luke turned to look at the twins, Jake was cheerfully chewing, his hand outstretched for more, while Josh took the opportunity to snack on his fingers as well at the cookie. Luke gently pulled Josh's hand from his mouth and said, "I'm an idiot."

Jess pushed the plate a little closer to Luke and said, "I brought them out for you. You look like you can use a little comfort food."

Luke broke another chunk of cookie off and popped it into his mouth, scowling as Jake squealed in protest. "Drink your water," Luke told him sternly.

"Da!" Jake cried piteously.

"Geez," Luke muttered as he caved, breaking off another piece and dividing it between the two boys. "My life is a mess," he muttered.

"Your life is perfect," Jess countered as he watched his uncle carefully.

Luke snorted and said, "Far from it. My sons are sugar junkies, my nephew id kissing my step-daughter, and my wife…"

Jess waited for a beat for Luke to finish and then said leadingly, "And your wife?"

Luke sighed and said, "We had a big fight this week."

Jess eyed Luke warily as he asked, "About?"

Luke shook his head and said, "Nothing, just me being stupid."

Jess nodded and said, "Well, in your case, that could be a daily occurrence."

"I could just kill you now and one of my problems would be solved," Luke reminded him.

"It's not your problem," Jess said in a calm voice.

"Yes, it is," Luke scoffed.

"No, it isn't," Jess insisted. When Luke opened his mouth to speak, Jess held up his hand and said, "It is your problem that you'll have to detox these two before the age of two. It is your problem that your wife needs to have some kind of surgery next week, and you're scared shitless." He ignored Luke's startled look and went on. "But Luke, what happens or doesn't happen between me and Rory is not your problem, it's mine, and it's Rory's, but not yours and not Lorelai's," he said firmly.

"But," Luke began to protest.

"I'm not saying it isn't your business," Jess said quickly. "I'm just saying that it's for me and Rory to figure out."

"Yeah," Luke conceded with a sigh.

Jess' lips twisted into a wry smile as he said, "I don't know, but I'll let you know as soon as I do."

"Huh?" Luke grunted as he broke off another piece of cookie and nibbled at it absently.

"Nothing," Jess said with a dismissive wave of his hand. He leaned forward a little and cleared his throat nervously. "You know, I mean, I don't want to do anything that will…" he trailed off as he glanced away from Luke's probing gaze.

Luke chewed for a moment and then said, "I know." He rapped his knuckles on the table and began to stand up as he said unconvincingly, "It'll be fine." He looked down to see two pairs of bright blue eyes riveted to him. Luke shook his head at the identical blonde sugar junkies and said, "I'd better get them out of here before they start needing insulin injections."

Jess nodded and stood up to go open the door for Luke to finagle the stroller through. When they stepped out onto the sidewalk, Jess said, "You know I, uh, care about her. A lot," he added.

"I know," Luke answered quietly. He looked down at Jess and said firmly, "Just don't forget about you too, okay?"

Jess nodded once and said, "Okay."

Luke smirked a little as he pointed the stroller toward home and said to the twins, "The guy's a goner. Come on, let's go home," he said as he nodded to Jess and then set off down the sidewalk.

"Takes one to know one," Jess called after his uncle.

"See? That's the best he could come up with. Sad, isn't it? Girls do that to a guy," Luke told the twins in a loud voice that carried over his shoulder, causing Jess to chuckle at himself as he stepped back into the bakery to close up for the night.

XXXX

Later that night, after baths had been given, stories had been read, and two tousled haired blonde babies had been finally coaxed into slumber, Luke climbed into bed with a groan of relief. Lorelai smirked and said, "And I haven't even touched you yet."

"Touch me now," Luke said as he gathered her close to him. As she ran her hand up under the hem of his t-shirt, smoothing the fine hair that dusted his stomach, Luke gave an exaggerated groan and murmured, "Don't stop, don't stop."

Lorelai giggled and dug her fingers into his ticklish ribs in retaliation for his teasing. As Luke squirmed away from the assault, she held on tighter, pulling him back to her as she said, "Okay, okay."

Luke ran his fingers lazily through her hair, gently separating the tangled curls as he made his way to the ends and then started all over again. "How'd it go?" he asked gruffly.

Lorelai sighed and said, "Okay, I guess. I really don't have much to report. They're talking, trying to sort out their feelings," she said with a shrug. When Luke nodded, she tipped her head back to look up at him and asked, "What did you find out?"

"Pretty much the same thing," he replied. He wound a dark curl around his index finger as he frowned up at the ceiling. "How do you feel about it?" he asked quietly.

Lorelai sighed and said, "Weird."

Luke chuckled and said, "Yeah."

"On one hand, I can totally see it, you know," she said as she rested her forearm on his chest and rolled onto her stomach to look at him. "They like so many of the same things, and aside from that, they've always had this kind of bond or something," she mused. "They both have the absent father thing, but they both have you filling in the gap," she told him. "They're both scared about how we're going to react. Especially you," she told him.

"Why me?" Luke asked defensively.

"Because you have a vested interest in both of them," she said with a shrug.

"So do you," Luke retorted.

"Ah, but Jess is your family," she answered.

"Rory is too, just like Jess is yours," he pointed out.

Lorelai shook her head and said, "No, I mean, other than Liz and TJ flitting in and out when the mood strikes them, Jess is the only real blood family you have, aside from the boys, that is."

Luke raised his eyebrows and said, "Good thing you added that, I was about to ask for a DNA test on those bozos down the hall."

Lorelai kissed him lightly and said, "They are you through and through."

"You calling me a bozo?" he asked with a stern frown.

"Yes," she answered simply as she traced his lower lip with her fingertip. "Everyone worries about you. You spent too much of your life alone. Doing it all, handling it all," she said softly. "No one wants you to ever have to feel that way again."

"This isn't about me," Luke murmured uncomfortably.

"I'm just telling you what's worrying them," Lorelai answered.

"Besides, I'm about as far from alone as a guy can possibly get," he said as he kissed her finger gently. Luke looked at her tenderly and then said in a gravelly voice, "He said he's falling for his best friend."

Lorelai caught her bottom lip between her teeth as Luke's words sank in. "Wow," she managed to whisper at last.

"I know," he whispered back.

"Can lightning strike twice?" she asked, a tinge of worry coloring her voice.

"They're too young," Luke answered quickly.

"Is that what worries you?" Lorelai asked.

"Part of it," he admitted.

"Some people find that kind of love young," Lorelai pointed out. "Some of us have to wait for it," she added with a soft smile.

Luke looked down at her as he continued to stroke her hair. "If it's anything like this, I really hope so, for both of them," he said in a rough voice.

Lorelai smiled and said softly, "Kiss me, buddy boy."

"Whatever you say, pal," Luke answered as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her up to him. He kissed her gently, and then opened his eyes slowly, looking at her through the dark fringe as he asked in a raspy voice, "My best friend. How cool is that?"

"So cool," Lorelai said as she leaned forward and captured his lips in a lingering kiss. She rubbed the tip of her nose against his affectionately and smiled as she said, "It's the coolest thing ever."

"For them, it's still weird though," Luke muttered as he kissed the corner of her mouth.

"Really weird," she agreed as she moved her head a fraction of an inch, and kissed him deeply.

XXXX

Jess knocked on her door and then shoved his hands deep into his pockets as he waited, glancing around the hallway nervously. The door swung open and Rory smiled as she said, "Hey, you made good time."

"22.8 miles, goes by pretty fast," he answered with a nonchalant shrug. He grimaced and rubbed his neck as he said, "I keep waiting for security to burst through the door and haul me out of here."

"Because you draped your underwear over the head of the statue of Eli Yale?" Rory asked with a confused frown.

"I just feel weird here," he said with a smirk.

"Well, I think you're weird all of the time," Rory said as she pulled the door closed behind her. "Hungry?" she asked hopefully.

"I could eat," Jess answered.

"Burgers okay?" she asked.

"How to they stack up against Luke's?" he asked.

Rory frowned and said, "Maybe we should go for Chinese."

"Mmm, Chinese," Jess hummed appreciatively.

"Chinese it is," Rory said with a nod. "Shall we?" she asked as she nodded toward the front door.

"We walking or driving?" Jess asked as he held the door open for her.

"We can walk," she answered.

"Good, because parking sucks around here," he muttered.

"Well, you see, the Ivy Leagues are supposed to challenge a person. Here at Yale, we start with the parking," she said with a grin as they walked side by side, but not touching.

"So, big news, huh?" Jess said as he glanced over at her.

"Big news," Rory confirmed with a happy smile.

"You're gonna be a professional big sister soon," Jess said with a smirk.

Rory smiled and said, "Tease all you want, but Mom and Luke are ecstatic, so I couldn't be happier."

"I thought that there was, uh, a problem," Jess said as they paused at the corner to let traffic pass.

Rory nodded and said, "There is, but apparently it'll keep until after the baby is born. They'll just have to watch things carefully," she told him.

"Good," Jess answered, unsure of how to respond to that.

Rory pointed to a restaurant half way down the block and said, "It's right there." As they walked into the restaurant, Jess blinked at the large gold dragon with ruby colored eyes that greeted them in the vestibule. Rory grinned and said, "Don't worry, I'll protect you."

"Where do you buy something like that?" Jess asked as he ushered her toward the hostess station.

"I imagine at the same store that sells the gigantic urns my grandmother has," Rory answered.

Jess chuckled and said, "I always wondered about those things. Why do people buy them?"

"They're for really big flowers," Rory said with a somber nod.

"Of course," Jess answered as he held up two fingers to the hostess.

As they looked over their menus, Rory asked, "Do you like the spicy stuff?"

"Not really," Jess answered.

"Good," she said with a nod. "Let's each order something and we can share," she suggested.

Jess looked up with a crooked smile and said, "Okay, tell me which two you can't decide between."

Rory looked up with a sheepish smile and said, "I have plebian tastes in Chinese. I can never choose between the sweet and sour pork and the cashew chicken."

Jess nodded and said, "Sounds good," as he closed his menu. "I'm not sharing my egg roll, though," he warned.

Rory nodded and said, "Okay, as long as we have the ground rules covered."

They had just placed their orders, and both were casting around trying to figure out how to broach the topic at hand when a voice called, "Ace?" Rory stiffened instantly, and then groaned as she heard Logan say, "Ace, I've been trying to call you."

Jess' eyes flashed up to where Logan approached, a group of his friends hovering in the doorway, obviously on their way out. "You want me to," he started to say in a low voice.

Rory shook her head and turned to look up at Logan as she said, "I know, I wish you wouldn't."

"Wouldn't what?" Logan asked incredulously. "Come on, Rory, you have to talk to me sometime," he said with a winning smile.

"No she doesn't," Jess muttered.

Logan bit back a retort as he spared Jess a glance and then returned his attention to Rory. "Aren't you ever going to talk to me again?" he asked her.

Rory sighed and said, "There's nothing left to say, Logan."

Logan placed his hand on the back of her chair, leaning in as he said in a harsh whisper, "Rory, you know how I feel about you."

Rory reared back slightly as she said, "Actually, I don't."

"Aw, come on," Logan said incredulously.

"It doesn't matter, Logan," Rory said quickly, keeping her voice low, hoping not to attract attention.

"Yes, it matters," Logan hissed. "You just ditched me there. No explanation, no excuse, and the next thing I know, you're gone. I've been calling you, I bought you a coffee cart, a florist's shop worth of flowers," he said as he gestured wildly.

"Hey, back off and calm down," Jess said as he started to rise from his chair.

"I think I deserve an answer," Logan insisted, shaking Jess' hand from his arm.

"Here's a hint, ask the girls you slept with while we were apart," Rory said, her patience finally snapping. When Logan reared back, she shook her head and said, "No, that's not even it. We're just not right for each other, Logan. I don't fit into your world, and you know what? I really don't want to," Rory said in a gentler tone.

Logan blinked in confusion and then turned to glance at Jess. When he met Jess' dark glare, Logan turned back to Rory and asked incredulously, "Are you with him now?" When Rory didn't answer right away, Logan laughed bitterly and said, "Isn't that a little too Appalachian? Or maybe your hoping to consolidate holiday dinners," he said with a sneer.

"Logan," Rory started to say.

"Leave," Jess ordered his voice low and threatening.

"I'll leave when I'm damn good and ready," Logan shot back, squaring his shoulders as he turned to face Jess.

"You should go now. Your friends are waiting for you," Jess said calmly as he nodded to the door. "I don't think she wants to talk to you anymore," he added in a taunting whisper.

Logan ignored him and turned back to Rory. "I don't get it," he said in a bewildered tone.

"There's nothing to get, Logan," Rory said nervously. "I'm not wild enough for you, and you're just a bit too wild for me," she said with a shrug.

Logan rocked back on his heels, pressing his clenched fists into his pants pockets as he studied Rory for a moment. Without averting his gaze, he said to Jess, "Sit down, I'm not gonna touch your girlfriend, or sister, or cousin or whatever you two are." Jess shifted away from Logan slightly, but did not take his seat again. Logan pursed his lips and said, "Mommy and Daddy must be so happy. Keeping it all in the family, I mean," he said with a smirk. He pulled a money clip from his front pocket and said, "No hard feelings, huh, Ace? You can't blame a guy for trying," he said to Jess as he peeled off a couple of twenties. He tossed them onto the table and said, "Sorry to have interrupted. Here, dinner's on me." He stepped back with a brusque nod and said, "See ya, Ace. Tip the waitress well, bakery boy, don't embarrass me," he added with a smirk as he turned and hurried to catch up with his friends.

Jess' dark eyes were cold and hard as he took an involuntary step toward Logan, but Rory caught his arm and said, "He's not worth it, let him go."

Jess watched until the door closed behind Logan's entourage, and then looked down at Rory's fingers wrapped around his wrist. "What are you doing here with me?" he asked hoarsely.

"Having dinner," Rory said as she tugged his arm gently. "Having dinner with my friend, who happens to be so much more than a friend," she added when he looked down at her. When Jess still resisted, Rory said, "Jess, I want to be here with you more than I have ever wanted to be anywhere with anyone." Jess' eyes flickered to the door once again, and this time she knew that he was thinking about using it. "Don't go," she said; her voice soft and pleading.

"I'm not the kind of guy you need," he said quietly.

"But you're the guy I want," she told him frankly.

Jess sighed, and nodded slightly as he stepped back toward his chair. He sat down and said, "How do I know that I'm just not some reaction to the blonde dick, there?"

"How do I know that I'm not a replacement for Cara?" Rory shot back.

Jess shot her a pointed glare and said, "I think you know that."

Rory shrugged and said, "If I wanted Logan, all I had to do was answer one of fifty phone calls. The guy bought out the coffee cart for me," she said bluntly.

"Your mother know that you turned that down?" Jess asked as he rubbed his tense jaw.

Rory smiled and said, "As a matter of fact, she does. It was Thursday," she said with an impish grin. She looked up to see their waitress approaching with their appetizers and said, "You have to stay, or you forfeit your egg roll."

Jess picked up the twenties that Logan had tossed onto their table and turned to the waitress. "Did you serve the group that just left? The guy who was over here talking to us?" he asked her. When she nodded, he held the bills out to her and said, "They forgot to leave this for you." She frowned in confusion, having already collected a generous tip from the table and shook her head. Jess smiled and waved the bills at her as he said, "Seriously, consider it combat pay."

The waitress tentatively took the money, and stuffed it into the pocket of her apron with a small smile as she said, "Your food should be out in a moment."

Rory and Jess both turned their attention to their egg rolls, processing the scene that had just played out. Finally, Jess said, "So, he cheated on you."

"Technically, I don't know," Rory admitted. "We were kind of apart," she said with a shrug.

Jess picked at his egg roll and muttered, "Explains some stuff."

"No, not really," Rory said a bit too defensively.

"And the night you showed up at my place?" he asked, the pieces falling into place a little too neatly for his tastes.

"Was the night I found out," Rory confessed hesitantly. "But that's not why I went there," she said quickly.

"Uh huh," Jess mumbled as he picked his egg roll to pieces with his fingers.

"Jess, you know as well as I do that my kissing you that night had nothing to do with Logan," Rory said firmly.

"Do I?" he asked as he looked up suddenly.

"You should," she told him.

Jess looked away, watching the happy diners chatting casually over their moo shu, and gesturing wildly with their chopsticks in hand. "I know that we both have some things to figure out," he said quietly.

"Like?" Rory asked worriedly.

Jess turned back to her, his dark eyes burning with intensity as he said, "I can't be your rebound, Rory. I can't always wonder if I'm your second choice."

"You're not. I chose you," she insisted.

Jess nodded slowly and said, "Yeah, when the other option became unattractive to you."

Rory narrowed her eyes and asked, "What are you saying?"

Jess grimaced and said, "I've lost my appetite. Do you mind if we take this to go?" he asked her.

"Jess," Rory said as he waved to catch their waitress' attention.

"Please, Rory, I have to go," he said in a low urgent tone. He looked up at the waitress approached and asked, "We have to leave, could you box our food to go?"

Rory watched as Jess reached for his wallet, and quickly said, "No, I invited you," as she scrambled for her purse.

"Let me buy the damn dinner, Rory," Jess said through clenched teeth.

Rory's hand froze, and then she dropped her wallet back into her purse as she said, "Uh, okay, thanks."

Jess settled the bill as the waitress handed a bag containing their entrees to Rory. They stood and left the restaurant without exchanging another word. The walk back to Rory's dorm was silent as they passed group after group of Saturday night revelers out on the hunt for a good time. At the front door to her dorm, Jess paused and Rory turned to look at him quizzically. "Don't you want to come in?" she asked.

Jess shook his head and said, "No, not tonight."

"But," Rory started to protest, but Jess pressed a finger gently to her lips to silence her.

"Think hard, Rory. Be sure," he said softly. "I need you to be absolutely sure, okay?" he asked. "I'll call you," he promised. When she nodded, he lowered his finger and said, "Goodnight."

"Don't you want your food?" she asked as he began to walk away.

Jess turned and backed down the walkway as he flashed her that crooked smile and said, "I ordered it for you, remember?"

XXXX

The apartment was empty, so was the bottle of beer at his elbow. The pack of cigarettes had been decimated, the crushed and broken remains piled on the saucer he used as an ashtray. The cursor blinked at him mockingly as he ran both hands through his thick hair in frustration. James Earl Jones was oddly silent, and for once, Jess missed his company. At least if James was around, he could have used the deep melodic running commentary to break the unbearable silence that his CD player couldn't penetrate. He stared at the wall, unable to focus on the painting of a sailboat that graced the wall outside of what used to be Luke's room, wondering what she was thinking, wondering what she was feeling. He sighed heavily; the only thing that he knew for certain was that no words would come that night. His chair rasped against the worn floor as he scooted back, his finger holding down the power button on the laptop. When the screen went blank, he stumbled over to the couch and flopped back on it lifelessly, draping his arm over his forehead. Jess blinked at the ceiling, wishing that he was just feeling drunk and maudlin, but knowing deep down inside that he had never been so sober, and had never seen things more clearly. At least, not when it came to Rory. It was too soon. For both of them.


	4. Food for Thought

**Food for Thought**

_He didn't expect the pain. The ache was almost physical as he stared out of the bus window, watching Connecticut disappear behind him. He tried to tell himself that he never belonged there. He reminded himself that he never wanted to go there in the first place. Why did it hurt so bad to leave, Jeff wondered as he stared morosely at the scenery whipping by. Because they didn't understand that he would have gladly have broken his own wrist rather than hers. Lori was his friend. The first true friend he had ever had; the first person who had ever bothered to look beyond the attitude, the first person who had ever accepted who he was, and the first person who had ever expected more from him. She was the first person he had ever felt remorse for disappointing. But the second followed closely on her heels. As he boarded the bus heading for New York, he had been careful not to look back. He couldn't bear to see the pain etched around his uncle's eyes, it was too much. For as much as Lori meant to him, Louie was the first person in his life who had ever truly gave a damn, even if he didn't understand._

Jess smirked at the blinking cursor, enjoying the same little tickle of amusement he felt each time he typed 'Louie' for 'Luke,' knowing that his uncle would go nuts if he ever knew. Not that he would, no one would ever know about this particular tale. _Then why are you still writing it?_ James Earl Jones asked in his sonorous voice. "I have to," Jess answered aloud. _Or, you could just call her,_ James suggested as if the answer were obvious. Jess shook his head and positioned his fingers above the keyboard again.

_Louie seemed to know that his arrogance and detachment were just a shield. He was probably well acquainted with the concept, having kept his own feelings masked behind a gruff exterior for so many years. It was the downfall of the Duke men. This misplaced pride that made it almost impossible for them to share their feelings with those that mattered most. And other than the a few well placed jabs at one another, it was an unspoken rule that they would cover each other's backs when it counted. When Louie had finally broken down and exposed his feelings for Lauren, Jeff still stayed quiet, never quite letting on how much he knew about the depths of his uncle's feelings, unconsciously helping him hang on to one last shred of that stubborn Duke pride._

_Where is your pride getting you now? _James asked impatiently. _Call her. You said that you would call her, but instead you're holed up here licking your wounds,_ he taunted.

"Ball's in her court," Jess muttered as he pushed his chair back and headed toward the fridge for another beer. When he pulled the door open, he stared open mouthed at the lone carton of orange juice that resided on the top shelf.

_Oh, come on,_ James Earl Jones scoffed, his booming laughter filling Jess' head. _You went there, got your pride stomped on by Richie Rich and ran away, _James told him_. Guess what, there's always going to be someone richer, smarter, better. Get used to it now, _he taunted.

Jess rolled his eyes as he let the refrigerator door swing closed and muttered, "You're my conscience, shouldn't you be on my side?"

_Stop being a baby,_ James ordered impatiently. _She already loves you. How little it would take to make her fall in love with you,_ he reasoned. _She wants to fall in love with you. Give the girl what she wants, _he said with an amused chuckle. _One phone call. Let her in. Trust her,_ James Earl Jones whispered in a soothing purr.

"Shut up," Jess mumbled as he sat back down in his chair. No sooner had the words escaped his lips than his phone began to vibrate next to his computer. He picked it up, glanced at the display, and then opened it.

Before he could even say hello, Rory blurted, "It was a classic Ross and Rachel thing."

"Uh, what?" Jess asked as he stood up and walked over to the couch.

"Me and Logan. We were on a break, and he says he thought that we were broken up," she explained in a rush. Rory fidgeted nervously with the edge of a notebook, letting the pages fan against the pad of her thumb.

"Okay," Jess answered cautiously, sinking back into the cushions as he waited for her to go on.

"You see, I got kind of fed up with him. I was tired of the constant partying and the stupid stunts," Rory told him. "I didn't like the way he talked down to people, the arrogance," she explained. When Jess didn't say anything, Rory sighed and said, "It sounds stupid, especially to me, since those were kind of the things that made him attractive to me."

"You like arrogant jerks?" Jess asked with a derisive snort.

"No, I liked his confidence, his live in the moment attitude," Rory said defensively. "He's a risk taker, and I am definitely not," she said with a rueful chuckle.

"I see," Jess answered, looking around the apartment as he tried to figure out what he was supposed to say about her confession.

"You said that you'd call," Rory said softly.

"I was going to," Jess answered.

"When? It's been days," Rory complained.

"Three," he replied calmly. Jess sighed as he ran a hand through his hair and then said, "I thought we could use a little quiet time."

"I've been going nuts," Rory said indignantly.

"Couldn't have been a long trip for you," Jess said teasingly.

"Don't joke. This is not a joke," Rory insisted angrily.

"No, it's not," Jess agreed as he slid down to stretch out on the couch. He stared up at the ceiling and whispered, "I've missed you."

"Then why haven't you called?" she asked as she sat down on the edge of her bed with a confused frown.

"Licking my wounds," Jess said with a wry twist of his lips.

"Why? Why are you wounded? I don't want to be with Logan. I thought I made that clear," Rory said with a defeated sigh.

"There will always be someone better," Jess told her.

"Better how?" Rory asked, incensed. "A better friend? Someone I know better? Someone I can trust more? Someone who understands me better?" she demanded.

Jess smiled ruefully and said, "No, there's no one better for that."

"That's right," Rory said adamantly.

"You have to admit, Mini Murdoch there is better for your future," Jess told her. "You'd have the whole empire at your feet. You'd be your grandmother's crowning triumph. The toast of New England society," he said, only half jokingly.

"Yes, because that is what I have always craved," Rory drawled sarcastically.

.

"You'd have everything, Rory," Jess said quietly

"You're talking as if I were looking for that. Maybe you don't know me as well as I thought you did," she said angrily. "You think I'd stay with someone for the opportunities he can give me? The doors his family could open?" she demanded. "You think I could stay one minute with someone I know I can't trust? Trust this, Jess, I never looked at Logan as a forever person. Yes, I liked him. Yes, I was attracted to him and the things that he could show me, but never once did I ever think that this could be it," she told him, her voice cold with controlled emotion. "When I met him, I wasn't ready for that. I wanted the adventure. I wanted the excitement. I wanted to see what I had been missing. Guess what? I didn't miss a damn thing," Rory hissed and then hung up on him.

Jess pulled the phone from his ear and smiled slightly. He waited, counting to ten slowly before he pressed the buttons on his phone with his thumb. His smile only grew when she answered with a snappish, "What?"

"Are you free Saturday night?" he asked quietly.

"Yes, I'll be in Stars Hollow this weekend," she answered, her voice still hard edged.

"Do you want to see a movie or something?" he asked, unable to keep the smile from his voice.

"You suck," she told him petulantly.

Jess smirked at the ceiling and said, "Yes, but who sucks better than I?"

Rory giggled and said, "Not a good advertisement, and so dirty."

Jess chuckled sheepishly and then said, "Yes, Little Lorelai, I'd like to rephrase that."

"Sorry, no do-overs. We're having Friday night dinner at Mom and Luke's Friday night, I'll expect to see you there," she said imperiously. "Goodnight, Jess."

"Goodnight, Rory," he answered quietly. Jess closed the phone and pressed it to his chest as he stared up at the ceiling. "You'd better be right," he said to the empty apartment.

James Earl Jones chuckled and said, _I find your lack of faith disturbing. If you only knew the power of the dark side._

XXXX

Rory called, "Hello?" as she stepped through the front door Friday evening. "Mom? Luke?"

"In here," Luke called from the kitchen.

Rory set her book bag down in the foyer and hung up her jacket. She followed her nose toward the kitchen and said, "Mmm. Roast?" as she stepped into the warm golden hued room.

Luke nodded as he pushed the pan back into the oven and then adjusted the temperature slightly. "Yeah, your mom thinks that she can start pulling the cravings card on me now," he said as he dropped the dishtowel he was using as a pot holder onto the counter.

"Apparently, her thinking is correct," Rory answered as she walked over and gave him an awkward hug. She glanced over at the other side of the room and saw Josh sitting dejectedly behind the fence of the makeshift baby jail Luke had built. "Solitary confinement?" she asked.

"Jake figured out how to get the lid off of the marker your mother had given him to use as a drumstick," Luke answered as he shook his head. "She's upstairs doing tattoo removal."

"Smart boy," Rory said as she walked toward the plastic fencing.

"He's a mess, literally," Luke muttered. "His accomplice escaped unharmed, though."

Rory bent over, placing an absent kiss on Josh's outstretched hand before lifting him from the jail and hugging him tightly. "Any chance of time off for good behavior?" she asked, lifting an eyebrow at Luke as she pressed her cheek against Josh's soft chubby one and smiled at him angelically.

Luke rolled his eyes and said, "Good behavior is a comparative term these days."

Still holding Josh, Rory walked back over to the counter as Luke began preparing a salad. "Can I help with anything?" she asked.

"If you can keep Thing One out from under my feet, that's help enough," Luke said as he nodded to Josh.

"Da!" Josh admonished playfully.

"Adores you," Rory finished with a teasing smile. "Da thinks the sun rises and sets on you guys, not matter what he says out loud," she told Josh.

"Most days," Luke mumbled.

"Da thinks you hung the moon. Da thinks you are the greatest things since sliced bread," Rory said as she danced Josh in a little circle, grinned as he chortled happily. "Da thinks that you and your naughty little brother are the bee's knees," she said in a sing song voice.

"You're gonna blow all of my credibility," Luke growled.

Rory snorted and told Josh, "Da's credibility was shot years ago."

"As was his sanity," Luke agreed. "How was the drive?" he asked, ready to change the subject.

"As exciting as ever," Rory answered.

"Would you get me the jar of dressing from the fridge?" Luke asked as he tossed the salad.

Rory pulled open the refrigerator door and saw an old canning jar half filled with a reddish mixture and asked, "Raspberry?" as she pulled it from the shelf.

"Yeah, you guys seem to be able to choke it down easier," Luke answered with a smirk.

"You could just bypass the salad thing altogether," Lorelai said as she breezed into the room with Jake on her hip.

"Not likely to happen at this point, is it?" Luke asked with a pointed look.

"No coffee, forced to eat green things, what has happened to my life?" Lorelai asked woefully as she leaned over to kiss Rory hello. "Hi Sweets," she said with a grin.

"Hi," Rory replied. She scanned Jake, and smiled at his baleful expression as she asked, "Tattoo removal successful?"

"Mostly," Lorelai said as she gave Jake a stern look. "That and I decided that he felt chilly and needed a sweater," she said with mock solemnity.

Rory grinned as she reached out and pushed the sleeve of Jake's sweater up to reveal the faint blue scribbles on his arm. "Nice," she told her little brother with an approving grin.

"I left the one of the mermaid," Lorelai said as she carried Jake over to the jail. "Okay, you're in for ten to fifteen," she told him as she lowered him into the barricade.

When he opened his mouth to protest, Lorelai shot him a stern look, and his face crumpled as he moaned, "Mama."

"Don't Mama me, buddy boy," Lorelai chastised.

"That's it work her," Rory cheered as there was a soft knock on the kitchen door. She looked up as Jess opened the door and stepped inside.

"Hey," he said to the room in general.

"Hey, look who's here!" Lorelai said a little too brightly as she took Josh from Rory's arms. She placed him in the baby jail and said, "Keep your brother company. No artwork," she warned as she scanned the assorted toys strewn about the area for potential threats.

Jake immediately pulled himself up to stand and cried, "Jeh!" as he spotted his would be savior.

"Don't fall for it, he's in time out," Lorelai said as she shot Jess a nervous smile.

Jess frowned as he reached out to give Jake's tiny hand a manly shake and asked, "Whatcha in for?"

"Graffiti," Rory answered with a grin.

"Yeah?" Jess asked, a smile twitching his lips as he squatted down to Jake's level.

"Jeh," Jake cried piteously.

"You tag the walls?" Jess asked as he stood up and backed away, resisting the urge to bust the poor little guy out.

"Nope, his arms," Luke answered as he placed the salad into the fridge to chill, and warily watched Rory and Jess out of the corner of his eye.

Highly conscious of the scrutiny they were under, Rory backed away slightly and asked, "So, are you telling Grandma and Grandpa the big news tonight?"

"Yep," Lorelai answered with a slight scowl. "Mr. Wehavetotellthemeverytimewegotothebathroom insists on it," she muttered.

Luke blew out an exasperated sigh and said, "Lorelai, the whole damn town knows. Don't you think that alone will get us in enough trouble?"

"Are you afraid they'll ground you?" Lorelai retorted.

"I'm not the one who announced it in the middle of the diner with a choir of archangels singing over my shoulder," Luke reminded her.

"That's my mother, the soul of discretion," Rory said dryly as she and Jess shared an easy smile.

"I was excited, I thought you would be too," Lorelai said archly.

"I am beyond excited," Luke said in a deadpan tone as he pulled plates from the cabinet, but sent her a sidelong look that confirmed his words. "Now, we get to share the good news with two more people," he added as he turned and stalked off to the dining room.

Rory looked at her mother quizzically and asked, "What's that about?"

"We're, uh, feeling a little cautious about this. Of course, the cat is already out of the bag, but at the moment, we're both wishing we could stuff it back in," she said with a shrug. She glanced over at Jess and then at the dining room doorway as she said, "Gimme just a minute, okay?" and followed Luke into the next room.

Rory watched Lorelai go, and then turned back to Jess, only to see him lifting Jake from his prison walls and giving him a stern look as he said, "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime, man." He ruffled the little boy's blonde curls and then placed him back in his cell, handing him a wooden spoon. "Like this," he said as he guided Jake's hand, showing him how to run it against the plastic lattice to make some noise. His interest caught, Jake began to happily whack the barrier with the spoon as Jess smirked and straightened up saying, "That works too."

"Showing the newbie the ropes?" Rory asked with a grin.

"Can't have him getting rolled in there," Jess answered with a shrug. He shoved his hands down into the pockets of his cords and said, "Hey."

"Hi," Rory answered with a small smile.

"Hi," Jess answered as he glanced uneasily at the dining room doorway. "We're not, um…" he trailed off.

"Not what?" Rory asked when he paused a moment too long.

"We're not making some kind of announcement are we?" Jess asked with a wince.

Rory smiled and said, "Not unless you're expecting too."

"I just, I didn't know, when you said to be here," Jess said uncomfortably.

Rory shook her head and said, "No, you're just here as a part of the family."

"Good," Jess said with a relieved sigh.

"And yet, you still showed up," Rory said with a knowing smile.

Jess laughed self-consciously and said, "Yeah."

Rory stepped a little closer to him and asked, "What does that mean?"

Jess scratched behind his ear and said, "I guess it means that we're both in this, one way or the other."

Rory nodded as she took another step closer and cocked her head as she asked, "Do you really think that the other is still an option?"

Jess opened his mouth to answer, but the doorbell rang, causing them both of their heads to swivel toward the hallway. "Rory, can you get that?" Lorelai called from the dining room.

Rory turned back to Jess and said, "Saved by the bell."

As she left the kitchen, Jess looked down at Josh and Jake as he said, "And that is how an angel gets his wings."

XXXX

When she stepped into the dining room, Lorelai found Luke setting the table, his jaw set with slightly more determination than the task called for. She smiled when he glanced up and spotted her. "Should you, uh, should we leave them alone like that?" Luke asked softly as he glanced toward the doorway.

"Probably not. They're probably half naked on your island by now," Lorelai said as she took the silverware he held clutched in his hand.

"Not funny," Luke growled under his breath.

Lorelai circled the table, carefully placing each utensil in the proper spot, knowing that Luke's eyes flowed her every move. "I love this table," she said softly.

"I choose to believe that it was in front of the fire," Luke said in a low voice.

"That's fine, believe what you want," she said with a nonchalant shrug. "If it's a girl, we're naming her Chinette," she said with a slow smile.

"Hush," he admonished as he placed a plate at each place.

"Luke?" Lorelai asked quietly as she straightened a salad fork.

"Hmm?" he hummed as he looked up at her.

"Our baby is going to be just fine," she said as she looked him in the eye.

"I know," he said, reassuring her as she assured him.

"Rory and Jess are going to be just fine," she said with only slightly less conviction.

"I hope so," he answered. Luke dropped his eyes to the tablecloth as he said, "Don't take this the wrong way, but I think I'm a little more worried about Jess than Rory."

Lorelai cocked her head and asked, "How come?"

Luke fiddled with the place settings nervously as he said, "Rory is, Rory has…"

"Yes?" Lorelai asked encouragingly as she saw him struggling for the right words.

"Rory's stronger," Luke finished with a shrug.

"You think?" Lorelai asked, genuinely intrigued as she stepped closer to him.

"Jess, he won't be able to help himself if she decides that he is what she wants," Luke said with a nervous smile as Lorelai took another step in his direction.

"He won't?" Lorelai asked, her eyebrows lifting as her eyes locked with his.

"No," Luke said as he stepped toward her, caught up in the pull he felt every time she looked at him like that.

"Why do you think that?" she asked softly.

Luke chuckled and said, "Look at me Lorelai." He shrugged and asked, "Have I ever been able to refuse you anything you wanted?" He reached out, grasping her waist and rubbing his thumb over her ribcage. "There's a distinct possibility that our baby was conceived on this table," he said in a low voice as he nodded to the table. "If a grown man can't resist that kind of power, how can a boy half his age?" he asked quietly. "You two," he said with a shake of his head.

"Kryptonite?" Lorelai asked softly.

"Yes," he answered.

"I'll make sure she uses her powers for good and not evil," she said as she pressed a soft kiss to his lips. The doorbell rang, bursting their little bubble. Luke dropped his hand and stepped back quickly, turning his attention back to the table. Lorelai kept her gaze locked on Luke as she called, "Rory, can you get that?" She smiled as Luke looked up again and said, "That's one way to be sure your island isn't desecrated."

"Thank you," Luke said dryly.

Lorelai smiled as she checked the fully set table and trailed her fingers over the snowy white tablecloth as she said, "Don't forget to think of me lying here, naked and wanting you, while you're forcing salad on me."

When she turned to go greet her parents, Luke glared at her back and muttered, "Like I haven't been already."

XXXX

As they sat down for dinner, Richard asked, "So, Jess, what have you been up to?"

"Uh, nothing," Jess answered as he averted his eyes, concentrating a little too hard on placing his napkin on his lap.

Lorelai smiled sweetly as she said, "Oh, don't let him fool you, Jess is a busy, busy boy these days." Two sets of blue eyes and one pair of startled brown ones, glared at her as she shook out her napkin. "School, work," she continued innocently. "Weston's is doing very well," she said with a nod as she fought back a smirk.

Jess looked away, turning his attention to Richard as he said, "I'm not the only one who has something cooking around here."

"Oh?" Emily asked politely as she handed Josh a plush rabbit to keep him entertained and then turned her attention back to the conversation.

"Maw," Josh said, anxious to regain Emily's doting attentions.

"Yes, sweet boy?" Emily replied with a smile as she turned back to him.

"No," he told her happily.

"No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no," Jake agreed as he slapped his try with his palm.

"I'm terribly sorry," Emily said with a grin. "What did you need to tell me?" she asked them politely.

"Ba ba," Josh said with a pleased smile.

Lorelai and Luke exchanged a surprised glance as their eyes met from either end of the table. "Fink," Lorelai muttered under her breath.

"School is going well too?" Richard asked Jess, oblivious.

"School is fine," Jess answered distractedly as he watched Rory from her mother to Luke.

"Good, good," Richard boomed.

"Guh!" Jake agreed.

"Yes," Richard told his grandson with a pleased smile. "Education is the most important thing, Jacob. Education will take you where you want to go," Richard said firmly. "Have you given any consideration to pursuing a bachelor's degree?" Richard asked, turning his attention back to Jess abruptly.

"Uh," Jess mumbled.

"Ba ba!" Josh said as he bounced in his seat excitedly.

"I think that you should give it serious consideration, son," Richard continued as he accepted the salad bowl that Luke had passed to him. "You are extremely bright, and obviously you have a knack for business. With the proper education, who knows what you could achieve," Richard said enthusiastically.

"I think Jess is happy with how things are, Grandpa," Rory said, leaping to Jess' defense.

"Actually, I did do a little research on programs at U Conn," Jess said as he lifted his eyes to meet Rory's startled gaze across the table.

"You did?" Rory asked in a bewildered tone.

"You have?" Luke asked, his voice filled with hope.

"I'm still not sure that it's for me," Jess said dismissively.

"I think it's wonderful," Emily chimed in.

"Yes, and don't dismiss Yale, my boy. I know that your high school experience was not what they typically look for, but with your transfer credits, and test scores, I'm sure I can put in a good word with my friends in the admissions department," Richard said as he leaned forward, his excitement growing.

Jess laughed and said, "No, thanks. Yale is way out of my range, academically and financially," he said quickly, but felt a twinge as he saw the flicker of hope fade in Rory's bright eyes.

"Well, the money can always be found," Richard said with a wave of his hand. "Since you are no longer anyone's legal dependent, you would be eligible for financial aid, and other sources of funding can be found if need be," he said too casually.

"No, I don't think I'd be going to Yale," Jess said firmly.

"Trinity," Emily suggested helpfully. "It's right there in Hartford," she said with a nod.

Jess chuckled and said, "I hate to break this to you, but Trinity is more expensive than Yale."

"Really?" Emily asked in a stunned voice.

"That may be," Richard conceded with a nod.

"I haven't decided if that is something I want to do, anyway. I think I'll finish my Associate's and see what I want to do then," Jess said quickly, is eyes pleading with Rory to change the subject. When she said nothing, he speared a forkful of salad and asked her in a casual tone, "Hey, do you want to pick up a few hours at the bakery tomorrow morning?"

"Uh, sure," Rory said with a confused frown.

"Ba ba," Josh said as he waved his arm, trying to get Emily's attention again.

Emily turned to him and said placatingly, "Yes, you are Grandma's baby."

"Ba ba," Jake echoed.

"Busted," Lorelai said with a smirk.

"Yes, you are my baby boy. The baby," Emily amended with a smug smile.

"Not for long," Lorelai muttered under her breath.

"What?" Emily asked sharply as she turned to her daughter.

Lorelai and Luke exchanged a glance, and Luke inclined his head slightly in encouragement. "Well, Mom, Dad, you know how I told you last week that the surgery had been postponed?" Lorelai asked nervously as she poked at her salad.

"Yes? You said that they wanted to look at some test results," Emily said anxiously. When Lorelai didn't respond quickly enough, Emily demanded, "What is it? Have they found something else?"

"Well, kind of," Lorelai hedged as she risked another look at Luke, who smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he nodded.

"It's a tumor," Emily whispered in a horrified tone.

"No, it's a baby," Lorelai said, turning to meet her mother's eyes. Emily's eyes widened slightly, but she said nothing as the news sank in.

"A baby?" Richard asked in a bewildered tone.

"We found out last Friday, but we didn't want to say anything until I had seen Dr. Morgan," Lorelai quickly explained.

"A baby?" Richard asked, turning to Luke for confirmation.

Luke nodded and said simply, "Yes."

Lorelai watched, her heart sinking as Emily's eyes filled with unexpected tears, and she rushed from the table. "Maw!" Josh called, craning his neck as they all watched Emily hurry to the kitchen.

"Emily?" Richard called, scooting his chair back from the table as he snapped out of his shock.

Lorelai shook her head and pushed back too as she said, "No, Dad, I should go."

Richard settled back into his seat and looked over at Luke again as he asked, "A baby?"

"A baby," Rory confirmed for him as Luke watched Lorelai leave the room with a worried frown creasing his brow.

Lorelai stepped silently into the kitchen to find Emily clutching the edges of the island, her head bowed as she tried to regain her composure. Lorelai hesitated, unsure of what to say. She watched as Emily slowly raised her head, letting it fall back slightly as she whispered, "Thank you," to the ceiling.

Lorelai stepped back slightly and then cleared her throat before softly calling, "Mom?"

Emily averted her face as she blinked rapidly and asked in a raspy voice, "The fibroids?"

"I'll have to take care of them after the baby is born. They're going to be monitoring me very closely throughout the pregnancy," Lorelai assured her.

Emily nodded and pressed her lips together firmly. Slowly, she turned to look at Lorelai and said, "A little girl would be nice."

Lorelai smirked and said, "That's the consensus of opinion. It's out of my hands. I suggest you talk to Luke about that, make sure he had the right stuff working."

Emily rolled her eyes as she pushed back from the island and said, "Honestly, Lorelai," as she prodded her daughter back into the dining room.

The rest of dinner passed in a flurry of excitement, Rory and Jess sticking to the sidelines as the others chattered happily, lavishing attention on the twins, and teasing Luke about the possibility of a baby girl. After Richard and Emily left to return to Hartford, Rory turned to Jess and asked, "You wanna watch a movie?"

Jess glanced uneasily toward the kitchen where he could hear the clatter of Luke cleaning up as Lorelai chattered away, laughing and kicking the teasing he had taken at the dinner table up a notch. He turned back to Rory and grimaced a little and said, "Do you mind if we wait until tomorrow?"

Rory let her eyes flicker toward the kitchen as she nodded and said, "That's fine. We can rent something and watch at your place," she suggested. As he opened his mouth, she held up a hand to stop him and said, "I am not watching Almost Famous, though."

"Jealous?" Jess asked with a teasing grin.

"You'll need to feed your addiction when I'm not around," she teased.

"Okay," he agreed with a nod.

"What time do you want me there in the morning?" she asked.

"Whenever," Jess said with a shrug.

"Wow, such a strict schedule," Rory said with a laugh.

"I don't really need you," Jess admitted.

"No?" Rory asked.

"But I want you," Jess said quickly.

"You do?" she asked with a knowing laugh.

"No, not that," Jess said quickly, realizing the trap he had walked right into.

"No? You don't?" Rory asked again, trying to inject a little injury into her tone.

"Eight o'clock," Jess said shortly. "Be there at eight," he told her as he turned toward the door to make his escape.

"Aren't you gonna tell Mom and Luke goodnight?" she asked with a smug smile.

Jess stopped in his tracks, and turned slowly. He shot her a dark look as he brushed past her, heading for the kitchen. Rory turned to watch him go, but when he reached the doorway, Jess turned and said in a low voice, "Yes, Rory, I do."

"Oh," she said softly. Startled by the intensity shining in his dark eyes her bright blue gaze skittered away.

Jess' lips quirked as he asked, "Scary, isn't it?"

Rory forced herself to meet his eyes again and said quietly, "Yes and no."

Jess nodded as he said, "I'll take that as a maybe. Goodnight, Rory," he said as he turned to go into the kitchen.

"Goodnight," she said as she stood riveted to her spot in the hallway.


	5. Buried Treasure

**Buried Treasure**

The morning at the bakery could best be described as strange, Rory decided as she changed into her most flattering pair of jeans and a soft pale green sweater Saturday night. They had worked side by side as they had so many times before, but there was an awareness that hummed inside of her that was completely new. There were no intimate words exchanged, there was no touching that could give rise to a sexual harassment complaint. But there was something more there. This was more than the lingering memory of a kiss fueled out of a desperate need to know. This was completely different. Each time he brushed past her to box another dozen donuts, Rory's pulse jumped. When she looked up while wiping down tables and saw him staring at her with the same look she had seen the night before, her heart jumped into her throat. She kept herself busy until noon, and then she headed for the back room to tell him that she was going for the day. She stopped short in the doorway as she saw Jess leaning over a sheet cake, a pastry bag in hand, and his tongue poking out of the side of his mouth as he added the finishing touches to a bright red rose. She had waited, watching in fascination until he lifted the bag and rocked back on his heels with a satisfied nod. Jess glanced over his shoulder, his spine stiffening slightly as he noted her presence. Rory cleared her throat softly and said, "Do you need me to stay?"

Jess just shook his head and said, "Nah, unless you want to."

"I think I'll take off. I want to go to the bookstore," she said as she crossed to the coat rack and grabbed her jacket. "Um, what time tonight?" she had asked.

"Seven?" he asked hopefully. When he saw the flicker of disappointment cross her face, he asked, "Six? Eight?"

Rory smiled and said, "See you at six." She stopped in the doorway and asked politely, "Should I bring anything?"

Jess shook his head and resisted the urge to say, 'a bodyguard'. "I'll order a pizza," he told her.

"I'll bring a selection of movies, none of which include the line, 'I am a golden god'," she said with a smirk as she turned to leave.

Now, she stared at her reflection in the full length mirror and wondered what had changed. Up until last night, she felt like she had it all under control. Up until last night, she thought that she was the one who was calling the shots, prodding him along, making this happen. Now she felt like she was on a run away train_. Or, one of those old railway carts they always had in the cartoons. The kind with the hand brake that inevitably came off in your hand,_ she thought wryly. Rory shook her head, squared her shoulders, and fixed her reflection with an intent stare. "Get a grip, Gilmore," she ordered herself, and quickly turned to collect her book bag. "Just be careful not to rip the brake out completely," she murmured under her breath.

She walked out into the kitchen, but found it deserted. She wandered down the hallway and poked her head around the corner to find Luke and the boys sprawled on the floor as Lorelai lounged on the couch flipping channels. She placed her bag between her feet as she slipped her arms into her jacket and said, "I'm going out."

"Cool, whatcha doin'?" Lorelai asked as she looked up.

"I'm going to Jess', we're going to watch a movie," Rory told them. She saw Luke flinch slightly as he sat up a tad too quickly. She looked over at him and he covered quickly by reaching for a ball that had rolled away from Jake. "Is that okay?" she asked cautiously.

"Of course it's okay," Lorelai answered before Luke could open his mouth. She flashed Rory a too bright smile and said, "Have fun!"

Rory shot Luke an uneasy look and said, "Okay, well, I shouldn't be too late," as she swung her bag up onto her shoulder.

Lorelai eyed the bag for a moment and then asked, "You guys going to study while you watch a movie?"

Rory shook her head and said, "I just have a couple of books and some articles I was going to show him."

"Oh, well, okay," Lorelai said with another quick smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

Rory raised her hand and said, "See you later," as she made a dash for the front door.

"See ya," she heard Luke call gruffly as she pulled the door closed behind her.

"Babe," Lorelai said in a warning tone.

"What?" Luke asked defensively.

"You have to do better," she told him frankly.

"What? I didn't grab her and lock her in her room," Luke said as he reached out to snag Josh as he toddled by. He looked down into the boy's smiling face and asked him, "Did I put her in the jail? No. I think I'm doing pretty good, don't you?" he asked Josh.

"Guh," Josh agreed.

"See?" Luke said as he lifted one eyebrow at Lorelai. "I didn't say a word about her spending hours alone with him up in that apartment," he said in a grim tone.

Lorelai smiled tenderly and said, "Very good." She shrugged and said, "Anyway, I think that they're both still skittish. I don't think we have to worry about anything like that happening yet. Things seem a little tense between them still," she said in a reassuring tone. When Luke snorted softly she frowned and asked, "What?"

Luke rolled his eyes and said, "Man, it's been a while if you've forgotten why things are tense."

"Huh?" Lorelai asked.

"It's tense because of the…you know," he said, as he stared at her meaningfully.

Lorelai reared back as she scoffed, "No, it's not!"

"For weeks they've both been holding back, not talking about this thing," Luke said, starting to get agitated. "Apparently, they had these feelings for longer than that, right?" he asked.

"Right," Lorelai agreed softly as she began to see his point. She held up a hand to stop him from going further and said quickly, "Okay, let's just stop right there, okay?" She took a deep breath and said, "Still, I think that they aren't comfortable enough to let things go very far."

Luke nodded slowly and muttered under his breath, "Whatever gets you through the night."

"What was that, Yoko?" Lorelai asked, a little too snappishly.

Luke's lips twisted into a smirk as he set Josh on his feet again and sent him on his way with a soft tap to the boy's diapered bottom. "I'm John, you're Yoko, and allow me to demonstrate," he said as he rolled over onto his knees and crawled over to the couch. He stopped, looking up at her intently as she stared back defiantly.

After a moment, Lorelai couldn't suppress her smile as she asked, "What are you doing?" Luke continued to simply look at her, his dark blue eyes fixed on her face as she allowed the smile to grow and leaned closer to him. He parted his lips slightly, but kept his eyes locked on hers, watching the smile fade into something else. "Luke?" she asked softly. Luke blinked slowly, knowing she was caught, his eyes darker when they met hers again. "What are you doing?" she asked, this time in a more cautious tone.

"Letting the tension build," he said simply as he continued to gaze at her, his eyes conveying thoughts that went well beyond his words.

"Stop," she admonished as she leaned down and kissed him softly. "You know I can't resist you when you look at me like that," she murmured as she brushed her lips over his again.

"You see my point?" he asked between kisses.

"Da!" Jake called, anxious for the return of his father's attention.

"Inna minute," Luke told him as he shifted upwards and kissed Lorelai again, this time touching the tip of his tongue to her lips teasingly.

"Bad Daddy," Lorelai murmured.

"Yes," Luke agreed as he angled his head and moved in for a deeper kiss, only to be thwarted when he felt a small body wriggling between his own and the couch. He pulled back to find that Josh had decided to break it up.

Josh smiled beatifically at Lorelai and said, "Mama."

Lorelai smiled back and said, "That's right, I'm yours," as she reached down to pull him up onto the couch with her. She flashed Luke a flirty smile and then said to Josh, "Thank you for saving me from that bad Daddy."

Luke scowled down at Josh's beaming face and said, "Sooner or later, you're gonna have to go to go to sleep, buddy."

"You busted Daddy's moves, yes you did," Lorelai cooed to Josh as Luke fell back, picked up a ball that had rolled under the coffee table and looked over at Jake.

"Guys don't do that to another guy. I had a good thing going there," he told Jake sternly.

"Bah!" Jake said as he reached for the ball in Luke's hand.

"Here," Luke grunted as he handed Jake the ball and turned to glare at his older son again.

He looked over and saw Lorelai stretched out, holding Josh with her arms straight out above her as she said, "You're getting too big! You're getting too big! Mommy can hardly, oh!" she cried playfully as she collapsed her arms and lowered Josh to her chest as they both giggled delightedly.

A slow smile crept across Luke's face as he watched them, and then a plastic ball hit him square in the temple, breaking the spell. Luke blinked in surprise and then turned to find Jake staring at him soberly. He reached down, picked up the ball, and held it out to Jake as he said, "Good arm. Do it again, I dare ya."

XXXX

"Hi," Rory said as he opened the apartment door.

"Hey," Jess said as he stepped back to allow her to enter.

Rory looked over at the coffee table and spotted a pizza box, two cans of Coke, two plates, and two glasses filled with ice. "Wow, you're all ready," she said with a laugh.

"Yes, I pulled out all of the stops. I even swiped napkins from Pete, so that you wouldn't have to use a paper towel," Jess said with a smirk as he ushered her over to the couch.

Lorelai gasped as she sat down. "Little packets of red pepper and parmesan?" she asked in wide eyed wonder.

Jess nodded as he sat down next to her and said, "Told you I went fancy."

Rory pressed her hand to her heart and said, "I may swoon."

Jess rolled his eyes and said, "The red pepper doubles as smelling salts."

Rory grinned and said, "You have thought of everything."

"So, what movies have you brought?" he asked as he opened the pizza box.

"Well, I brought a few, but I think we only need one," she answered as she dug a stack of DVD cases from her bag.

"Oh?" Jess asked as he turned his attention to the cases in her hand.

"_Harold and Maude,_" she told him.

"An excellent date movie," Jess answered with a nod.

Rory's lips twitched as she asked, "Is this a date?"

"Isn't it?" Jess asked, surprised.

"Yes," Rory said quickly as she handed him the DVD case.

While Jess got up to place the DVD in the player, Rory served them each two slices of pizza, and then closed the box to keep the remainder warm. She handed him his plate as he sat back down again, careful to keep a good foot of space between them. They sat back, quietly eating as Harold began staging his suicide attempts and his mother ignored him. Jess snickered and said, "I always forget how much I love this movie."

"It is a classic," Rory agreed easily. "If you ever tell her I said this, I'll kill you, but when he's hanging there and his mother says, 'Dinner at eight, Harold. And do try to be a little more vivacious,' well, you know who that makes me think of," she finished with a smirk.

Jess snorted and said, "I am definitely telling your grandmother that."

Rory pouted and said, "And here I thought you liked me."

"Okay, maybe not definitely," Jess conceded.

"You definitely don't like me, or you definitely won't tell Grandma?" Rory asked him as she nibbled at her crust.

"I definitely won't tell Emily, and I definitely do like you," he said as he shot her a sidelong look.

"Good, I feel much better now," Rory said as she picked up her second slice of pizza.

They watched for a few more minutes before Jess asked, "Your mom or Luke say anything about you coming over here?"

Rory shook her head and said, "No."

"No?" Jess asked, her abrupt response raising a red flag.

"No, they didn't say anything," she expounded.

"But," he prodded.

"But, they wanted to," Rory admitted with a sigh.

"You think Luke's gonna be calling every ten minutes?" Jess asked with a smirk.

"If so, he's already behind schedule," Rory said with a grin. She picked at a piece of pepperoni and said, "They're trying. It has to be weird for them."

"Yeah," Jess admitted grudgingly.

Another few minutes passed and then Rory asked, "We're you really looking into U Conn?"

"I did," Jess answered without taking his eyes from the screen. "I'm not going to do it, Rory," he said quietly. "I just don't see what it does for me," he said honestly.

"Okay," she answered simply and turned back to the screen.

Jess finally looked over at her and said, "See? This is what I was talking about. I have no desire to do the whole college thing. I mean, I don't mind taking some classes here and there, because sometimes, I actually learn something," he said with a smirk. "I will admit that the business classes have been good, but I don't really need them to run Weston's," he told her. "The programs I was looking at were English and creative writing programs," he admitted gruffly.

"Well, nobody said that you had to study business," Rory said with a shrug, turning to face him.

"And I don't need a degree to write," Jess replied a little too forcefully. When Rory clamped her mouth shut, he sighed and said, "I don't see what more it can get me. The starting salaries for unknown authors are not swayed by the amount of parchment you have," he said jokingly, trying to soften his words. "Broke is broke, Rory," he said with a small smile.

"And the bakery?" Rory asked.

Jess shrugged again and said, "I like it." When he saw that Rory was waiting for more, he gave her a rueful smile and said, "Smells good."

Rory rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the screen. After a moment of studying her profile Jess said quietly, "It bothers you that I don't want to be Joe College."

"It bothers me that you don't seem to think you can do anything well," Rory answered without looking at him.

"I do too," he replied.

"Yeah? What?" Rory asked as she turned and fixed him with a challenging glare.

"I run the hell out of that shop. Luke hasn't touched a thing there in over a year," he told her. "Everything it is right now is mine," he said adamantly.

Rory smiled and said, "Good. I'm glad that you realize that."

Jess stared at her incredulously and asked, "Were you testing me?"

"Yes," she said with a pleased nod as she turned back to the television and took another bite of her pizza.

"Huh," Jess grunted in disbelief. "So did I pass?" he asked finally.

"Yes," she said with a nod and she leaned forward to reach for her Coke.

Jess watched her out of the corner of his eye, trying to keep his gaze above the strip of creamy white skin that appeared when her sweater rode up in the back. "O-kay," he said slowly.

Rory took a sip of her drink and then placed it carefully on the coffee table. She turned to look at Jess and said, "I just wanted to be sure that you didn't think you needed to change your plans for me."

"What?" he asked in a confused tone.

"Suddenly last night you announce that you're looking at 4 year programs?" she said archly. "I just wanted to be sure you weren't doing something because you thought you needed to be someone else," she said with a shrug.

Jess stared at her and said in a low admiring tone, "Wow, your ego knows no bounds."

"What?" Rory asked, placing her empty plate on the coffee table.

"I looked into that months ago, Rory," Jess said with a laugh.

Rory had the grace to blush slightly as she turned her attention back to the TV and said, "Yeah, you're right."

Jess set his plate on the table next to hers and hesitated shyly as he reached over to touch her arm. When Rory looked up, startled by the contact, he said, "Doesn't mean I wasn't thinking about what you would think of it. The best part was that I knew that you would only want me to do what I wanted to do," he said in a low voice.

Rory looked down at his hand and said, "That's true," and when she looked up, their eyes locked and she leaned in slightly in silent invitation.

Jess hesitated, his eyes flickering to her lips and then back up again as he swallowed thickly and said, "We're missing the movie."

"Seen it dozens of times," Rory whispered.

_What? Are you waiting for her to kiss you again?_ James Earl Jones taunted. Without thinking, Jess raised his hand and gently brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. "This is probably a really bad idea," he said softly as he leaned in and brushed his lips gently over hers.

"Why?" Rory asked in a bewildered tone as he pulled back slightly. Jess didn't answer, instead his warm breath washed over her lips, causing her heart rate to jump. "I think it's a good idea, Rory said in a shaky voice as she wound her arms around his neck and pulled his lips back to hers. And then she got her answer.

That wayward thumb caressed her jaw, his fingers holding her in place, as he buried his other hand in her hair and kissed her fiercely. At first, Rory was a little taken aback, unsure of how to respond. This was not the practiced dance of seduction that Logan had led her through, these were not the tentative kisses of first love she shred with Dean. Oddly enough, there was none of the awkward, 'I'm kissing my friend,' panic she had felt when she had kissed Marty. This was different. Raw, honest emotion flowed through her veins as she kissed him back, her fingers tangling in the thick dark waves of his hair as she pressed closer to him. Moments later, she was pinned beneath him on the couch. Every one of his wiry muscles taut and humming as he pressed into her soft curves and Jess caught her sighs with his mouth. When he finally relinquished control of her lips to ravage her neck, his hand working her soft green sweater up over her ribs, Rory gasped, "Oh my God!"

Jess froze. He was still trying to determine if that was a good 'oh my God' or a bad one when there was a knock on the apartment door. He sprang up, falling back into the far corner of the couch as Rory scrambled into a sitting position at the opposite end. Jess grabbed the lone throw pillow and held it over his lap as he called, "Yeah!" and fought to get his breathing under control. He tried not to look over at Rory's flushed cheeks as he steeled himself to meet Luke's penetrating gaze.

Instead, Lane stepped into view as she said, "Hey Jess? The drawer on the register is stuck again. Can you get it for me?" She stopped short, her jaw dropping as she spotted Rory and Jess sitting on opposite ends of the couch, their hair a little mussed, their clothes a little disheveled.

"Got it," Jess said as he pushed himself up from the couch, dumping the pillow onto the floor and hurrying past Lane and out of the apartment.

Rory's eyes shifted nervously from Ruth Gordon to Lane Kim, as she tried to plaster a friendly smile on her face. "_Harold and Maude_," she said as she gestured to the television.

"Rory and Jess," Lane answered slowly, her eyes widening. She stared at Rory as if she had never seen her for a moment and then it sank in. "Oh my God! You and Jess?" she asked Rory incredulously as she crossed the room. "How did I not know this?" she wondered aloud, pressing the palm of her hand to her forehead. "How could you not tell me this?" she demanded as she stood glaring down at Rory, her hands on her hips.

"I, uh, I haven't told anybody," Rory stammered as she kept her eyes averted.

"No one? Your mom doesn't know?" Lane asked, panic rising in her voice. "Luke doesn't know? Luke is going to kill Jess, Rory," she said, nodding quickly as all of the scenarios flashed through her head.

"Well, they know," Rory admitted.

"They do know?" Lane asked anxiously as she wrung her hands. "Good, they know," she said with a nod.

At that moment, Jess reappeared and said, "Drawer's unstuck," as he hovered just inside the doorway.

"You're not dead," Lane said as she pointed at him.

"Not yet," Jess muttered.

Lane turned back to Rory with a quizzical frown and asked, "Luke didn't kill Jess?"

"Well, it kind of wasn't Jess' fault," Rory confessed uncomfortably.

"You threw yourself at Jess?" Lane asked in a shocked tone.

"Lane," Rory began as she rose from the couch.

"You hussy," Lane said with a laugh. She glanced over her shoulder at Jess and said teasingly, "Throwing yourself at this innocent boy."

"Lane, please," Rory said, the urgency in her voice cutting off Lane's next round of commentary.

Lane's smile faded as she studied her best friend carefully and asked, "Rory?"

"We haven't said anything, okay?" Rory said pointedly. "No one knows except for you and mom and Luke," she stated firmly.

"You don't want anyone to know?" Lane asked blankly.

Rory saw Jess' eyebrows shoot up and she tried to choose her words carefully. "Not yet," Rory said at last. "I think, I mean, we're not sure what we are yet," she stumbled.

Lane's eyes flickered to the couch and then back to her friend as she said slowly, "O-kay."

"Just, just don't say anything, okay?" Rory asked as she spared Jess a glance and found his face impassive.

"Uh, yeah, okay," Lane agreed quickly.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow," Rory told her as she glanced meaningfully at the door.

"Tomorrow?" Lane asked blankly. She caught Rory's pleading look and said, "Oh! Tomorrow! Yeah, tomorrow's good. Tomorrow's great," Lane babbled a she turned to head for the door. "Thanks for, um, fixing the thing," Lane said, not daring to look at Jess as she hurried from the apartment, pulling the door closed behind her.

Jess shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans, rocked back on his heels and stared steadily at Rory as he asked evenly, "Are we keeping it a secret?"

Rory frowned as she tried to think of a diplomatic reply. "Uh, private," she said with a nod.

"Private?" Jess said with a smirk as he took a step closer to her. "How private?" he asked.

"Fairly private," Rory hedged.

"Well, let's see, three people know now. How many more?" he asked.

"Four," Rory answered.

"Four more? Four in particular or can it be any four?" Jess asked incredulously. "If Mrs. Lanahan is feeling particularly chatty in the bakery tomorrow morning, can I tell her? Do we get to divide these four evenly?" he asked sarcastically.

"I meant that four know," Rory said abruptly.

"Oh?" Jess inquired, still staring at her intently.

"Paris," she confessed.

"I see," Jess answered with a nod. "So, are those four it? Should we whisper it to Josh and Jake? Maybe together they only add up to one, since they're still little," he said with a careless shrug. "You gonna tell your grandparents?" he prodded.

"No!" Rory answered without thinking.

"No, of course not," he drawled.

"No, I meant, no I don't want anyone else to know right now," Rory said, getting frustrated.

"I see," Jess said, trying to keep the hurt from his voice.

"No you don't," Rory said quickly.

"I do," he insisted as he reached over and turned off the TV with the heel of his fist. "Come on, I'll walk you home," he said succinctly.

"Home? It's early," Rory said indignantly.

"I think it's better that we don't stay here, and you think it's better that no one knows about us, so home seems the best place for you to be," he said with a shrug.

"Why? Why don't you want me here?" Rory demanded, getting agitated with his high handed attitude.

"Because if we stay here, we're gonna end up there," he said as he nodded to the couch. "Or there," he said challengingly as he gestured to his bedroom.

"Now whose ego has run amok?" Rory asked scornfully.

Jess took another step closer to her and asked in a low voice, "You mean that wasn't where that would have ended up if Lane hadn't knocked?"

"No, yes, I don't know, maybe," Rory stammered, thrown off by his direct question and that smoldering look in his eyes. "So?" she asked, tipping her chin up and crossing her arms over her chest defensively.

"So maybe I don't want to be in bed with someone who thinks I'm not good enough to be with her out of bed," Jess said derisively. He bent down and picked up her book bag, holding it out to her by the strap as he waited patiently for her to take it from him.

"That's not it," Rory said quietly.

"What isn't?" he asked brusquely.

"That's not why," Rory said as she stubbornly refused to take her bag from his hand, instead, placing her hands childishly behind her back.

"Then why, Rory?" Jess asked, his voice breaking slightly on her name.

"What if you decide you don't want me anymore?" she asked him softly.

"You? That I don't want you?" Jess asked his tone soft with disbelief.

"It would be bad enough with you and Mom and Luke. And now Lane," she added with a nervous laugh. "But I couldn't handle all of them knowing," she said as she waved to the window.

"Who cares what they think?" Jess asked.

"Poor Rory, such a smart girl, too bad she just can't seem to keep a guy interested," Rory said with a bitter laugh.

"What?" Jess asked.

"Dean got bored, tired of waiting around for me to do what I needed to do," Rory said with a shrug. "The minute I had my back turned, Logan was sleeping with a bunch of girls with guy names, so I guess we both know how enthralled he was with me," she said harshly.

"Rory, come on," Jess groaned.

"It's true," Rory said nonchalantly. "The only guy that didn't get tired of me was Marty, the one that I couldn't see as more than a friend no matter how hard I wanted to. Then, I was so dazzled by Logan, I still hurt him," she said bluntly.

"You are nuts," Jess said, getting frustrated with her faulty reasoning. "Did you ever think for just a moment that maybe they was something wrong with them?" he asked her angrily. "Dean wasn't good enough, smart enough, or quick enough for you. I have to give him some credit, though. At least he knew it," Jess conceded. "And that ass you were dating, well, I'm sorry Rory, but you were way out of your depth there. He was too fast, too slick, too whatever," Jess said as he dropped her bag to the floor and began to pace the room. "I liked Marty though," he said with a nod.

"Well sure, how could anyone not like Marty, well, except me," she said with a snort.

"Do you plan to cheat on me?" Jess asked abruptly.

"What? No!" Rory asked, an annoyed frown creasing her brow.

"Good. I won't cheat on you either," Jess said with a decisive nod. "So, do I fall more to the Marty end of the spectrum, is that the problem?" he asked as he looked away self-consciously.

"No!" Rory barked with a laugh.

"Well, we have been friends for a while," Jess said with a shrug.

"Trust me, my feelings for you right now are anything but friendly," Rory said as she shook her head. "I mean, yes, friendly, but not friend-ish. Definitely past friend-ish," she said quickly.

"Okay, so what it boils down to is that you don't want people knowing because you're afraid that I'll lose interest and move on, and then you'll have to deal with the fallout from getting dumped by even the town hoodlum," Jess recapped.

"I don't agree with the terminology or what it implies, but the essence is that I don't want to live out another public humiliation in my hometown, yes," Rory said dryly.

"And I really don't want a girlfriend who will sleep with me, and then tell me she slept with someone else the previous weekend," Jess said with a nod. "So now we both know what we don't want," he said with a nod.

"That's half the battle," Rory said with a smirk.

"What do you think the odds are that I'm going to lose interest in you, Rory?" he asked quietly as he reached out and brushed her hair back over her shoulder.

Rory licked her lips nervously and then lifted her eyes to his as she said, "About the same odds of me cheating on you."

"So, you and me?" he asked cautiously as he closed the gap between them.

"A good bet," she answered, tilting her head slightly as she leaned in.

Jess kissed her sweetly, but within moments, the heat was back. With a strangled groan, he stepped back from her and said, "And if we stay here?"

"Even money," she answered with a nod. "Come on, walk me home," she said as she leaned down and snagged the strap of her book bag.

XXXX

Lorelai had heard the front door close, but somehow it still managed to be a shock when she came downstairs in her pajamas to find that Rory was indeed home by 8:30. She scuffed her way into the kitchen in her pink slippers with the appliquéd crowns on the toes and found Rory rummaging in the fridge. "Everything okay, Sweets?" she asked.

Rory pulled back and smiled at Lorelai as she said, "Huh? Oh, yeah, everything's fine."

Lorelai pulled a glass from the cupboard and waited as Rory stepped out of the way holding the cherry pie Luke had brought home from the diner. Lorelai poured herself a glass of milk and tried for a casual tone as she said, "It's early."

"What?" Rory asked distractedly. "Oh, well, we just had some pizza and watched some TV," she said with a shrug. She lifted a brow as she spotted Lorelai's glass and asked, "Milk?"

"Does a body good," Lorelai answered. "That and I have a little indigestion," she admitted.

Rory frowned and asked, "Are the boys in bed already?"

Lorelai shook her head and said, "Luke has them up in our bed reading stories."

"Ooh, what's tonight's selection?" Rory asked as she cut herself a slice of pie.

Lorelai smirked as she raised her glass and said, "Fish stories."

"Huh?" Rory asked.

Lorelai smiled as she took a sip of her milk and then said, "Luke gets bored with the books, so sometimes he reads the boys articles out of _Field and Stream_."

Rory chuckled and said, "I see," as she gestured to the pie.

Lorelai shook her head and said, "No, thanks. I had some earlier. I think it's the cherries that are disagreeing with me."

"Don't they know who you are?" Rory asked with wide eyed innocence.

Lorelai smiled as she cocked her head and said, "You look happy."

Rory licked the excess cherry glaze from her fork as she nodded and said, "I am happy."

Lorelai's eyes narrowed slightly as she asked, "How happy?"

"Not that happy," Rory said with a laugh.

"You had a good time?" Lorelai asked as she set her glass down on the island and picked a tiny wedge of broken crust from the pie pan and popped it into her mouth.

Rory thought for a moment and said, "Mostly."

Lorelai laughed and said, "There's a ringing endorsement."

"We have some things were still figuring out, but mostly, yes," Rory said with a satisfied nod as she cut off another bite of pie with her fork.

"Good, good," Lorelai murmured. Unable to come up with another way of plumbing for more information, Lorelai decided to let it rest for the night. She picked up her glass and said, "Well, I guess I'll go see if the boys put Luke to sleep yet."

Rory nodded as she chewed thoughtfully. As Lorelai stepped into the hallway she called, "Mom?"

"Yeah, Sweets?" Lorelai answered, hope lightening her voice.

"With Luke," Rory started and then stopped, trying to let the thought form fully. Lorelai waited, standing still in the doorway as she watched Rory struggle to find the words. Finally, Rory asked, "Was it easier, you think, because he knew you so well?"

Lorelai frowned, giving the question a moment of thought before saying, "In most ways, yes. In some ways it was harder, though."

"Easier because you already knew who he was, as a person, I mean," Rory said leadingly.

"Oh yeah," Lorelai said quickly. "I knew that I could trust him. Not just with me, but with you," Lorelai said as she leaned against the doorframe.

Rory nodded her understanding and then asked, "How was it harder?"

Lorelai smiled weakly and said, "You don't get away with much. When someone knows you as well as Luke and I knew each other, or you and Jess, you can't hide your heart. They already know it too well," she said quietly. She raised her eyes to meet Rory's and said, "I'm so scared that one or both of you will get hurt."

"More scared than you were with Luke?" Rory asked.

Lorelai smiled and glanced down as she said, "I don't know. No, I guess. Aside from having you, falling in love with Luke was both the easiest and most terrifying thing I have ever done," she admitted with an abashed grin.

"And the best?" Rory asked.

"Absolutely," Lorelai said firmly. "Present company excepted, of course," she added with an impish smile.

"Of course," Rory said, returning her mother's grin.

"We just want you to be very careful with each other," Lorelai said honestly. "Jess," she said as she searched for the right words. Sighing, she said, "He'd cringe if her heard me say this, but Jess is a lot like Luke. They both feel things," Lorelai tried to explain, her fingers curling toward her chest.

"But they don't always let them out," Rory finished with an understanding smile.

Lorelai nodded and said, "He may not always say what you want him to say. If you're gonna do this, Rory, you need to listen to his heart, not his words," Lorelai said earnestly. "I think if there's living proof that words are easy, it would be you and me," she said with a shrug. "They're very hard for them, but when they do come out, oh Rory," she sighed. "There's no way to hide your heart," she whispered.

Rory nodded and said simply, "I love you, Mom."

Lorelai smiled, her eyes a little misty as she said, "Oh kid, you have no idea."

"Go listen to your fish tales," Rory said as she jerked her chin toward the stairs.

Lorelai nodded and pushed away from the doorframe as she said, "Night, Rory. Sweet dreams."

"You too," Rory said as she watched her mother shuffle toward the stairs in her slippers. She rinsed her plate and fork and placed them in the dishwasher before turning out the kitchen lights and heading for her room.

Lorelai turned knew that Luke had dozed off before she even turned the corner. She peeked into the room to see him sleeping propped up on three pillows with Josh crashed out under his arm. She smiled as she spotted Jake sitting patiently in the center of the bed, watching the doorway as if he had been waiting for her all along. She placed her glass of milk on the nightstand and whispered, "Come here," as Jake crawled over to the side of the bed to meet her. She lifted him into her arms and said, "How about a little one on one time with the Mommy, huh?" as she shuffled from the bedroom. She carried him down the hall to the nursery, and settled into the pastel plaid recliner.

"Mama," Jake said as he tried to scoot off of her lap.

"No, no, you're my date, Ja-luke. One on one time, remember?" she reminded him as she hauled him back up and hung onto him tightly. When he looked up at her with solemn eyes she smiled and said, "I can't hide from you either, can I?" She rubbed her nose against his and smiled when he smiled. "Do you love me? Will you love me forever? Do you need me? Will you never leave me?" she sang softly to him.

"No Meatloaf," Luke ordered in a gravelly voice as he shuffled his way into the room with Josh fast asleep in his arms. He placed the little boy in his crib and turned to look at Lorelai as he asked teasingly, "Would you like me to leave you two alone?"

Lorelai nodded solemnly and said, "Yes please, I'm trying to secure his undying love."

Luke scratched his jaw and asked, "Mine's not enough?"

Lorelai smiled softly as she looked down at Jake and said, "A girl needs a back-up plan."

Luke smirked and shuffled out of the room, lifting the back of his t-shirt slightly as he scratched his back with his thumb. Lorelai turned back to Jake and asked, "If I give you my heart, you know, the part Daddy hasn't already swiped, will you hide it for me?"

"Da," Jake said as he pointed to the door.

Lorelai nodded and kissed his golden curls as she began to rock slowly, snuggling him into her neck. "You're right, I'm a lost cause," Lorelai said softly.

After lulling Jake to sleep, Lorelai returned to the bedroom to find Luke propped up in bed watching Sports Center. He glanced up as she made her way to the bathroom and asked, "How's the heartburn?"

Lorelai smile and said, "All gone."

"And the back-up plan? How's that coming?" he asked as he turned to look at her.

Lorelai smiled as he turned the power of those navy blue eyes on her and said, "He's a little short for me. I guess I'll just have to make the best of this."

Luke pursed his lips as he nodded and said, "Good call. Hurry, I'm lonely," he said in a husky voice. "Mine crashed out too early," he added with a smirk.

"Be right there," Lorelai said as she ducked into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

XXXX

_Jeff had never been a hearts and flowers kind of guy. The Lifetime Network wasn't going to be beating down his door to become their leading man d' jour, Hallmark wasn't hiring him to come up with sappy sentiments to round out their Sweetest Day line of cards, and if De Beers really thought that two month's worth of his salary was a reasonable price to pay for a hunk of minerals, he had a few choice words for them. The truth was, up until the time that he met Tara, he pretty much saw women as being pretty much interchangeable. If that one didn't work out, you simply moved on to the next accommodating candidate. When that one became a little too demanding, you found another with less stringent needs. Of course, he had met Tara after bearing witness to Stars Hollow's own epic love story. Maybe it was something in the water, or perhaps it was just time, but he had been ripe for a fall. And he had thought that he had fallen hard. There were times just after he learned of her betrayal, that he thought he'd never claw his way back up to the surface. But he had. Sometimes with a helping hand. And, most of the time that hand belonged to Lori._

Jess sat back and re-read the words that had somehow magically appeared on his screen. He scrubbed his hand over his face, trying to sort out how he felt about what he had just written. _Are_ _you trying to say that this was some kind of transference?_ James Earl Jones asked incredulously. _Does that make you feel a little better, more secure?_ he taunted. _Would it be easier than simply admitting that you already love her? Tell me, when you kissed Cara, did you feel what you felt tonight?_ James asked his tone slightly more gentle. "No," Jess admitted in a whisper. _No. No you didn't,_ James said with quiet conviction. _You love her. The only real question is, when are you going to tell her?_ James stated unequivocally. Jess pushed his chair back from the table abruptly and headed toward the bathroom to get ready for bed. As he brushed his teeth, he could hear James Earl Jones laughing at him. After he had changed, Jess flopped back onto his bed, throwing his arm over his eyes as he tried to find the off switch in his mind. He breathed deeply, trying to fool his body into relaxation, and then he heard the voice say softly, _You can run, but you can't hide._


	6. Required Reading & a Breakfast Meeting

**Required Reading and a Breakfast Meeting**

"Hey," Rory said as soon as he answered the phone.

"Hey," Jess answered, and with one click of the mouse, pushed back from the kitchen table and stood up.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Nothing," Jess answered.

"Just sitting there staring into space?" she teased.

"And waiting for your call," Jess said dryly. "How was the library?" he asked.

Rory flopped back onto her pillow with a sigh and said, "The same."

"How's it coming?" Jess asked.

"One paper down, two to go, and an exam next week," she answered tiredly.

"It's idiotic to give an exam this close to finals," Jess muttered.

Rory smiled and said, "That paper counts for more than the final. I may not sleep until May," she said wistfully.

Jess stretched out on his bed and said, "That's even more idiotic."

"How about you? Are you getting things wrapped up?" she asked him.

Jess rolled his eyes and asked, "Have I mentioned how much I detest group projects?"

Rory smiled as she shifted the phone to her other ear and said, "You might have said something," as she recalled his twenty minute rant from three nights before. "I haven't seen you in almost two weeks," she complained.

"You're the one with the obsessive work ethic, and it's been almost three," Jess drawled.

"Come down this weekend. I'll take a break and we can have dinner," Rory said with a decisive nod.

"Wow, a break," Jess said teasingly. "For me? You'd do that for me?"

Rory grinned and said magnanimously, "Saturday night. I'll block out 6pm to 9pm just for you."

"Wow, three whole hours?" Jess mocked.

"You can have more if you want to help me write my paper on ethics in modern journalism," Rory offered.

"Sold. There are none," Jess answered smartly. "Done. Anything else you need my help with?" he asked solicitously.

"Just a couple of more weeks, and I'll be home," she assured him.

Jess snorted and said, "Nineteen days, so closer to three weeks."

Rory laughed and said, "The glass is half full, stalker boy, not half empty."

"I'm parched," Jess complained in a low husky voice.

"Saturday?" she asked hopefully.

Jess sighed and said, "Yeah. I'm campaigning for ten o'clock, though," he warned.

Rory stared up at the ceiling and said softly, "Well, we'll see how persuasive you can be."

Jess smiled as he said, "I love a challenge. Goodnight, Rory. Get some sleep," he said quietly.

"Well, now I have an incentive to get things done. Goodnight, Jess," she answered.

XXXX

Two days later, Jess was typing along madly when there was a knock on the apartment door. When he opened it, he saw Luke standing in the hallway holding Josh on his hip.

"Hi!" Josh said brightly.

A smile twitched Jess' lips as he said, "Hi."

"Hi!" Josh said again, this time adding a wave.

"How's it goin'?" Jess asked him.

"Hi!" Josh said a third time, this time lunging from Luke's grasp toward Jess.

Jess laughed as he took him and said, "Okay, okay, hi."

"Yeah, 'hi' is a big hit right now," Luke said as he reached up under the bill of his cap and scratched his neck. "People always respond to them, so the 'hi's just keep comin'," he explained dryly.

Jess shook his head and stepped back to allow Luke into the apartment as he flipped Josh under his arm like a football. Josh squealed his delight as Jess asked, "You two out trollin' tonight?"

Luke rolled his eyes and said, "No, we all came over for dinner. Josh and I were sent to lure you downstairs."

Jess nodded and said, "Well, Josh I can understand, but you…" he trailed off shaking his head.

Luke lifted one eyebrow and asked, "What?"

"Well, he doesn't get his charm from our side of the gene pool," Jess answered with a smirk.

Luke snorted and said gruffly, "Speak for yourself, I'm very charming." He glanced around at his old apartment and said, "So, what do you say? I have to warn you, if you don't say yes, Lorelai is planning to come up and charm you herself," he added with a wry twist of his lips.

Jess spared the computer a quick glance and then said, "Yeah, I can come eat."

Luke nodded and said, "Good. With Rory buried in the books, Lorelai is antsy for some company."

"Other than your charming self?" Jess asked as he caught Josh's hand just before he could yank on the computer's power cord.

Luke chuckled and said, "My charms work better in certain situations."

"So don't want to know," Jess muttered as he saved and closed his document. He stood up and jiggled Josh on his hip as he asked the boy, "Is it really hard living with them? Are you nauseous 24/7?" he asked as he carried Josh to the door.

"Jeh," Josh said as he beamed at his cousin.

Jess just shook his head and said in a disgusted tone, "You're so perky."

"Sickening, isn't it?" Luke asked as he followed them out of the apartment and pulled the door closed after them.

"Even your mom isn't his perky," Jess told Josh as they slowly walked down the stairs.

"Thank God," Luke mumbled under his breath.

"Of course, she may have been when she was his age," Jess conceded.

"It's possible," Luke agreed as he held the curtain back for Jess to walk through.

As soon as she spotted him, Lorelai began to clap and bounce in her seat as she said to Jake, "Yay! There's Jess!"

"Probable," Jess muttered to Luke.

"Jeh!" Jake called in an authoritative tone.

"Yessir!" Jess answered with a smirk as he sat down in the chair next to Jake's high chair and bounced Josh on his knee.

Jake frowned at the special attention his brother was receiving and his face clouded over. "Uh oh," Luke said as he quickly took Josh from Jess and plunked him down in the second high chair. "See? See?" he said to Jake as he strapped josh into place. "He's in," he assured him.

"And the sibling rivalry begins," Jess said to Lorelai.

Lorelai snorted and said, "Yeah, well, this one will come along, and those two can bond together to make his or her life hell."

"There's something to look forward to," Luke muttered as he snapped Josh's tray into place and dropped a few assorted toys onto it. He looked at Lorelai and asked, "Dead cow?"

"Mmm, please," Lorelai answered with a grin. "And onion rings," she added.

Luke shook his head and said, "The baby might prefer fries."

Lorelai fixed him with a pointed look and said, "Onion rings or chili fries." She turned to Jess with an overly sweet smile and asked, "Which do you think the baby may prefer?"

"Uh, I have no idea," Jess answered quickly, feeling as if he were being herded into a minefield.

Lorelai's smile warmed as she said, "That's right, you don't." She looked up at Luke and said, "Neither do you."

Luke rolled his eyes and said, "Onion rings it is. What do you want, Jess?" he asked.

"I'll take a burger," Jess answered with a shrug.

Luke nodded and said, "Okay, be right back."

When he disappeared, Jess eyed Lorelai warily and asked, "Is there a reason why I was summoned?"

Lorelai shrugged and held her hands open and said, "We like you?"

"Uh huh," Jess mumbled suspiciously.

"We do. Especially these guys," she said as she nodded to each boy. "It just seems like you've kind of been avoiding us, and we wanted you to know that there was no reason to," she added in a quieter voice.

"I've just been busy," Jess said a little too quickly.

"So school is going okay?" Lorelai asked as she bent over to pick up the ball that Josh had dropped from his tray without missing a beat.

"Yeah, I have one of those stupid model business things I have to do," Jess told her. "I told him that I'd show him the stuff from the real business if he would let me get out of it, but he didn't go for it," he said dryly.

"Higgins?" Lorelai asked.

Jess laughed as he asked, "You had him too?"

"God, yes," Lorelai sighed. "The idiots I worked with wanted to open a surf shack," she said as she shook her head at the memory.

Jess snorted and said, "I convinced them to do an ice cream parlor," as he jerked his head toward the window that separated the diner from Taylor's Soda Shoppe. "I had all sorts of brilliant ideas," he added with a nod.

"I'll bet you did," Lorelai said with a laugh.

"Anyway, we present next week, and then I'm pretty much done. I have an econ final, but it should be pretty easy," he said with a shrug.

"Ugh, I hated econ," Lorelai muttered as Luke approached with a coke in hand for Jess.

He set the glass down in front of his nephew and slid into the chair next to Lorelai, earning a glare from Josh. Luke scowled back at the little boy and said, "I had her first."

Lorelai grinned and said, "Ooh-ah is all about the Mommy these days." She leaned over and kissed Josh's forehead as she tickled his tummy and said, "Daddy's all jealous, you used to like him better."

Luke rolled his eyes and turned to Jess as he asked, "So, have you seen Rory?"

Jess blinked in surprise and said, "Um, no. Not since you guys have."

Lorelai looked over at Luke and said, "My you are a subtle one, aren't you?"

"What?" Luke asked defensively. "Are we not allowed to ask anything?" he demanded to know.

"Try doing it without a sledgehammer," Lorelai shot back.

"She's been busy, I've been busy," Jess said, trying to head off the inevitable fight.

Lorelai nodded sympathetically and said, "End of school year."

"I'm going down there on Saturday," Jess said, in the interest of full disclosure.

Lorelai tried to keep the wistful tone from her voice as she said, "Oh. That will be nice."

Jess smirked and said dryly, "Yes. Apparently, I whined until she blocked out 6pm to 9pm for me."

"Three hours?" Lorelai cried indignantly. "I squeezed her from my body, and I get 'Come down and maybe I can meet you in the dining hall for lunch,' and you get three hours?" Lorelai as she stared at Jess in disbelief.

"For God's sake, do not ask what he has that you don't," Luke muttered as he stood up. "I'm gonna check on our food," he said as he hurried off to the kitchen.

Jess held up his hands defensively and said, "Hey, I didn't ask for the slot, she assigned it."

"Geez, I'd kiss her hello," Lorelai muttered in a disgruntled tone as she flopped back in her chair to pout. She glanced up and was slightly mollified by the blush she saw staining Jess' cheeks as he looked anywhere except at Lorelai. She smirked and sneered, "Okay, so you have the whole boy thing working in your favor, but can you help her decide which sweater to wear that will not only be comfortable, boost her confidence and coordinate with her blue book?"

"Uh, no," Jess said with a chuckle. "See? She still needs you. I'm just a distraction," he assured her.

"And don't you forget it," Lorelai mumbled as Luke placed her burger and onion rings in front of her. She looked up with a pout and asked, "No chili fries?"

With a long suffering sigh, Luke handed Jess his plate, placed his turkey sandwich and the boys' macaroni and hamburger in front of his chair, and trudged back to the kitchen. Lorelai turned to watch him go, a small smile curving her lips as she picked up an onion ring and bit into it.

"Feel better?" Jess asked.

"Much, thank you," Lorelai said as she pushed her plate forward a bit, offering him an onion ring.

XXXX

After dinner, Luke followed Jess behind the curtain into the back hallway to retrieve the boys' stroller from the foot of the stairs. "Thanks for dinner," Jess said as he placed his foot on the bottom step.

"Thanks for providing a second target," Luke answered.

"She's a little cranky," Jess said with a smirk.

"Combination of hormones and no Rory," Luke said as he plucked stray toys from the stroller. He cleared his throat and tried to sound casual as he asked, "Things are going okay?"

"I thought we just covered all of that," Jess said with a smirk. "School is fine, Luke. You know the bakery is," he said pointedly.

Luke blew out a breath in frustration and said, "You know what I mean."

"Things are fine," Jess said succinctly.

"Have you, uh, figured things out?" Luke asked, tugging on his ear nervously.

Jess bit back the smart answer that was on the tip of his tongue as he studied Luke's worried face. "We are. We talk a lot," he said at last. "Would it help if I told you to stop worrying?" Jess asked, shifting uncomfortably.

"I don't think so," Luke answered gruffly.

"I won't hurt her," Jess said in a low voice.

"Maybe it's not her I'm worried about," Luke answered stubbornly.

"I'm a big boy," Jess said as he leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, yeah, fine, whatever," Luke said as he started to maneuver the stroller back through the curtain.

Jess offered Luke a weak smile as he asked, "You think it's in the blood?"

Luke's eyes flashed up to meet Jess' as he asked, "What?"

"The Gilmore women," Jess said with a wave of his hand.

Luke rolled his eyes and said, "I prefer to believe that it isn't a genetic thing."

"Merely a mental problem?" Jess asked.

"Medication might help," Luke suggested.

"I don't think so," Jess answered.

Luke nodded and said, "Let me know if I need the butterfly net."

"I will," Jess told him as he turned to climb the stairs.

The curtain swished back into place behind Luke, but he still heard Jess say, "Thanks."

Lorelai looked up as he approached and asked, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, fine," Luke answered. When she looked up at him skeptically, he smiled as he lifted Jake from his high chair and said, "Let's go home."

"Okay," Lorelai said as she stood up and began to free Josh from his constraints. A few minutes later, Lorelai held the handle of the stroller as Luke lifted the bottom and they carried it down the diner steps. As soon as they hit the sidewalk, Luke took over the handle as Lorelai wrapped her hand around his arm, and they walked slowly toward the house. "He okay?" she asked softly.

"He's a goner," Luke answered.

"Because you're going to kill him?" she asked apprehensively.

"Because he loves her," Luke answered gruffly.

"Well, that's not such a surprise is it?' she asked as she gently squeezed his arm.

"No, not so much," Luke said with a chuckle.

"No!" Jake agreed.

"No, no, no, no, no," Josh sang happily.

Luke rolled his eyes as he peeked over the top of the stroller and said, "Thanks for chiming in."

XXXX

No, he wasn't a little anxious, Jess thought with a smirk. He had already killed fifteen minutes by reading his book in the courtyard outside of her dorm, and still, he was ten minutes early as he rapped on the door. Paris answered, swinging the door wide open as she said, "Well, if it isn't George Glass."

"Huh?" Jess said as he stepped into the common room.

"Jan has been in her room all day, primping for the big party, no doubt," Paris said with a smirk.

"What are you talking about?" Jess asked, shooting Paris a perplexed look.

"You're not up on your Brady Bunch?" Paris asked incredulously. "I thought that would be right up your alley," she said with a shrug.

"Uh, sorry," Jess said as Paris knocked on Rory's door.

"George Glass is here," she called out as she opened the door a crack. Paris turned back to Jess and said, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to Sartre," as she turned to go back to her room.

"Huh, I would have pegged you for a Machiavelli girl," Jess muttered as he gently pushed open the door and saw Rory trying to gather a pile of books that had been spread out on her bed. "Hey," he said with a crooked smile.

"Hi, sorry, I got caught up in something," she explained as she gestured to the books, a purple hi-lighter still clutched in her hand.

Jess smirked as he swung the messenger bag he carried up onto the bed and opened it to reveal his laptop. "As you were," he said as he pulled the computer out.

"No, we have a date," Rory said as she tucked her hair behind her ear nervously.

Jess sat down on the edge of her bed and toed his shoes off as he said, "I came prepared for this eventuality." He pushed back until he sat propped against the headboard and opened his laptop. "Go ahead. We'll take a break in a little while and go get something to eat," he said as he nodded to the stack of books next to his leg.

Rory hesitated for a moment and then asked, "You don't mind?"

Jess smiled as he shook his head and asked, "Why do you think I brought this thing?"

Rory smiled in relief as she said, "I'm really worried about this Lit final."

"You?" Jess scoffed. "Why would you be worried?" he asked.

"This professor and I," she said with a sigh as she sat down on the bed next to his knee. "It's so frustrating. I know the answers, and I can express them, but somehow it's never quite what she's looking for," she told him, her frustration evident.

"So, you're getting an A-?" he teased gently.

"B," she corrected solemnly.

Jess nodded slowly and said, "I understand. You map out your notes. I'll work on this for a little while, and then we can talk about it over dinner."

Rory smiled and said, "You're the best."

"And don't you forget it," he mumbled as he opened the last chapter of the story he had started so long ago and stared at the last lines, searching for the thread that had been eluding him for the past couple of months.

"I won't," Rory said as she opened her book and sprawled out on her stomach next to him.

Jess glanced over, noting how her glossy brown hair fell over her shoulder and brushed over the pages of the book as she read. Rory looked up, caught him staring, and gave him a self-conscious smile. He reached out and captured a bit of her hair between his index and middle fingers, curling it slightly around them and then letting it slip softly between them until it slid from his grasp. With a small smile curving his lips, he positioned his hands over the keyboard, and suddenly those fingers began to fly.

XXXX

Jess dipped another tortilla chip into the salsa as he said, "I'm just saying that it isn't as simple as that. The characters he drew were supposed to be the protagonists, but they definitely were not people that anyone would want to know."

Tired of talking about it, tired of thinking about it, Rory shook her head and said, "No one I want to know." She leaned in closer as she reached for a chip and whispered conspiratorially, "Can we stop talking about it now?"

"What so you want to talk about?" Jess asked in the same hushed tone.

"Tell me what you're writing," Rory said as she dragged a chip through the thick red salsa.

"So, your mom seems to miss you," Jess said, abruptly changing the subject.

"Are you ever going to let me see it?" she asked, undeterred.

"The next time you talk to her, you should offer her something better than lunch in the dining hall," Jess said as he sat back, allowing the waiter to place their entrees in front of them.

"Jess," Rory said impatiently.

Jess kept his eyes fixed on his plate as he mumbled, "Maybe. Someday," he added quickly.

Rory picked up her silverware as she asked, "Why are you so reluctant? You know I think it's great that you're writing. What? Is it a Harlequin romance?" she teased.

Jess' mind flashed from the first story he had started to the second and said, "Yes, that's it. It's not ready because I haven't secured Fabio for the cover yet."

"Fine," Rory grumbled.

"You keep your secrets, I'll keep mine," he said gruffly.

"That's not fair," Rory muttered as she chewed. She pointed the tines of her fork at him and said, "I was thinking of both of us."

"I know you were," he said evenly. "When you're ready to go public, I'll let you read," he said with a shrug.

"Blackmail," Rory said under her breath.

"No, protecting my interests," he said simply.

"Are you really ready for that? Are you ready to have Babette and Patty watching our every move? Are you ready for my grandparents to know?" she asked pointedly.

"I don't care, Rory. Let them say what they're going to say," Jess said, getting agitated.

"You don't care? Even is what they have to say hurts Mom or Luke?" she asked. "I mean, I don't care so much about me, or you even, but they…" she trailed off as she looked away. "People can be so stupid," she said softly.

"Yes, they can," Jess agreed. "Do you really think it will bother them?" he asked.

"It would bother me," she said frankly.

Jess nodded and said, "Okay, so I wait until you're comfortable, and you wait until I am."

"Fine," Rory muttered again.

"Hey, did I tell you that Kirk's bachelor party is next weekend?" he asked, anxious to chase the troubled frown from her brow.

Rory smiled as she asked, "Are you going?"

Jess snorted and said, "Poker at your grandparents' pool house, you think I would miss that? I plan on taking them for all they're worth."

XXXX

Rory watched as he loaded his laptop back into the messenger bag and said in a slightly petulant tone, "You didn't campaign very hard for ten o'clock."

Jess snorted and said, "You think I don't know that you have a hot date with a text book?" He smiled at her as he asked, "What's up next?"

Rory wrinkled her nose and said, "Biology. Animal behavior."

Jess' eyebrows shot up as he said in a low voice, "I might be able to help with that."

Rory smiled and said, "Did you know that bees dance a figure eight dance before they mate?"

Jess chuckled and said, "No, I didn't know that. Are you trying to seduce me with talk of mating dances, Miss Gilmore?" he asked lightly.

Rory reached out and plucked at the front of his shirt as she said, "Maybe. I hate that I have to point this out, but you haven't kissed me all night."

Jess nodded slowly and said, "That was on purpose."

"You don't want to kiss me?" she asked as she stepped closer to him, watching his reaction from under her lashes.

Jess smirked as he wrapped his arm around her waist and said, "Kissing you is dangerous."

"So, you're scared?" she asked as she met his eyes challengingly.

"Petrified," he whispered as he lowered his lips to hers.

When he started to pull back, Rory whispered, "Stay."

"I can't," he answered, his voice cracking with the effort.

"Yes, you can. Nothing has to happen," she promised as she smoothed her hands over his shirt.

Jess licked his lips. She could see that he was truly torn as he shook his head and said, "You'll be home soon."

Rory nodded solemnly and said, "Yes, I'll be home, where I am expected to spend each night in my own bed."

"Rory," he said in a pained tone.

"Sleep here. With me. Just sleep," she whispered enticingly. "I want you here."

"You're Satan, aren't you?" he asked in a raspy voice.

"I'll study, you'll write, or read," she said as she gestured to her bookshelves. "I'll set the alarm and send you home early," she promised.

"And sleep here with you," he said as he nodded to the bed.

"With me," she confirmed as she met his eyes boldly.

Jess glanced away and swallowed hard as he said, "You realize that my psychotic uncle is up before dawn."

Rory smirked, knowing that she had won and said, "Not on Sundays, he isn't."

"Aren't you going to offer me an apple?" he asked dryly.

Rory shuddered and said, "Not unless it comes in pie form." She kissed him softly and then whispered, "You'll stay?"

Jess narrowed his eyes and said, "Let's see how it goes, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed as she wound her arms around his neck and pulled him closer.

"I doubt a lot of studying will get done," he murmured as he pressed his lips to hers and kissed her just the way he had been wanting to all night.

XXXX

It was still early when Luke walked out of the bathroom to find Lorelai propped up against the headboard twisting her fingers together as she stared into space. "You okay?" Luke asked.

"I'm fine," Lorelai said as she snapped out of her trance.

"What are you worrying about?" he asked as he dropped his clothes into the hamper.

"Nothing," she said too quickly, earning an impatient glare from her husband. Lorelai relented and said in a worried tone, "I'm wondering why I'm not sick."

"Morning sickness, you mean?" he asked as he frowned in consternation.

"Yeah," she said with a nod. "Shouldn't I be worshipping the porcelain god by now?" she asked him.

"Well, some people never really get sick, right?" he asked as he walked around the end of the bed to sit by her side.

"Yeah, but I was sick with Rory, and I was really sick with the boys," she fretted.

"Every pregnancy is different," he assured her.

"I know, but," she began to say, only to be cut off when he pressed his finger to her lips.

"There's nothing wrong with our miracle baby," he said in a calm, confident voice, adding a slight wink to make her smile.

"Miracle baby," she repeated with a small smile.

"Dr. Morgan said that you were as healthy as a horse. We'll hear the heartbeat soon. It's still early," he reminded her. Luke pressed his hand to her still flat stomach and said, "We're fine. You'll be puking your guts up soon enough."

"Sweet talker," she said with an affectionate smile.

Luke smirked and said, "That's me. How do you think you got this way begin with?" He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it gently before he stood up. He crossed the room to turn out the overhead light and said, "I have to be up early. Caesar is off tomorrow." He crawled into bed and smiled as he bent down and spoke to her stomach. "Do me a favor, huh? Make Mommy pukey, okay? She really likes it."

Lorelai covered her stomach defensively and said, "Don't tell her that!"

"Her?" Luke asked with a raised eyebrow.

Lorelai shrugged and said, "I'm switching off, tomorrow it's him."

Luke shook his head as he leaned over to kiss Lorelai. "Goodnight, Crazy Lady," he said softly as he pulled away slowly.

Lorelai's eyes fluttered open slowly as she whispered, "Take your clothes off, Burger Boy."

XXXX

"Nooo," Rory said plaintively as he slipped off of the bed.

Jess laughed nervously as he ran his hand through his hair and looked down to find her as delightfully rumpled as her comforter. "I have to go," he said in a raspy voice.

"I'll be good," she promised. She rolled over and grabbed her biology book form the table beside her bed and said, "See? I'm studying."

"I'm not falling for that again," he said with a laugh. He leaned over and caught her lips with his again as he said, "You're too good, that's the problem."

"Are you afraid that I'll tell people that you're easy?" she teased.

"Yes. My reputation would be in tatters," he said as he straightened up, rolling his eyes.

Rory pouted and asked, "You really want to go?"

Jess sighed heavily and said, "No, that's not what I want at all."

"Stay with me," she said softly. When she saw his shoulders slump, she knew she had won. Rory bit back a triumphant smile as she scooted from the bed and headed for her closet. She opened a plastic storage container and rummaged around a bit before coming up with a toothbrush still in its package. She held it out to him, careful to keep her smile under control as she said, "You can use the bathroom first."

Jess chewed the inside of his cheek as he stared at the toothbrush wondering when exactly his fate had been sealed. He slowly reached out to take it from her, his eyes locked on hers. "Do you know why I'm staying?" he asked quietly.

Rory's smile widened slightly as she asked, "Because I'm irresistible?"

Jess nodded slowly. "Yeah, that, and I love you," he said, and then he turned and left the room.

Rory walked to the open doorway and watched open mouthed as Jess closed the bathroom door behind him. She sagged against the doorway and let out the breath she hadn't realized that she was holding.

When he closed the door behind him, Jess looked into the mirror and said, "There. I said it." When James Earl Jones didn't answer, he tore the toothbrush from its packaging and turned the water on. As he squeezed toothpaste onto the brush, he had to concentrate to keep his hand from trembling. As he lifted the brush to his mouth he met his own eyes in the mirror again and said, "She'd better love me back, or I'm going to kick your ass."

Rory stood just outside of the bathroom, her arms wrapped around her stomach as she listened to him preparing for bed. When Jess opened the door and cautiously stepped out, she kept her face carefully impassive as she stepped past him and closed the door again quietly. Jess walked back into her bedroom and paced for a moment, trying to figure out what her silence meant, and debating whether he should cut and run or not. He decided not. Jess perched on the side of her bed, absently straightening the comforter with his hand as he waited for her.

Rory stepped back into the room and closed the door behind her with a loud click. When Jess looked up she leaned back against the solid wood of the door as she asked, "Was that some kind of warning or something?"

"That was the truth," Jess said as he stood up and turned to face her.

Rory nodded slowly and pushed away from the door. She took a step closer to him and said, "So, is it too trite if I say that I love you too?"

"Only if it feels trite," he answered softly.

"It feels right," she told him. "I need you to promise me something," she said seriously.

"Anything," he said quickly.

"We're always going to be friends. I need you to promise that we're always going to be friends first," she said as she watched his reaction intently.

"That's the easiest promise I've ever made," he said with a shrug. "Promise me something?" he asked her as he closed the distance between them with one more step.

"Anything," she answered with a small smile.

Jess's lips curved into a lopsided smile as he reached for her and pulled her closer to him. With his left hand, he reached up and brushed his knuckles over her cheek as he asked, "Be gentle with me?"

"I'll do my best," Rory promised as he pressed his lips to hers and kissed her deeply.

XXXX

It was still dark when his cell chirped, and Jess stirred with a soft groan. He reached blindly for it, but his hand swiped at the air. Rory rolled over, pushing her hair from her face as she reached out to pluck the phone from the nightstand on her side of the bed, and silenced it. She turned back to him and pressed her lips to his bare shoulder as she mumbled, "Five-fifteen."

Jess kissed her forehead and then gently disentangled his limbs from hers. He dressed in the dark, feeling around blindly for his clothes. Once he was satisfied that he had recovered every garment that he arrived with, he sat on the edge of the bed and brushed her hair back from her forehead with one finger. "I have to go," he whispered.

"Mmumph," Rory moaned.

"Call me later?" he asked.

"'Kay," she croaked.

Jess smiled as he covered her hand with his and whispered, "I'll need the phone for you to do that."

"Oh," she said blankly as he gently pried his cell from her grasp.

Jess leaned over and kissed her lingeringly. "I love you, Rory," he said in the barest whisper.

"I love you too, Dodger," she said with a soft smile.

"I'm not dodging anything," he told her as he stood up and dropped the phone into his pocket.

"Except Luke," she said with a smile.

"Except Luke," Jess agreed. He lifted his hand in a slight wave and said, "I'll talk to you later."

"Count on it," she said as he started to pull the bedroom door closed behind him. "Jess?" she called softly.

"Yeah?" he answered, opening the door a little wider again.

"Be my date for Kirk and Lulu's wedding?" she asked as she sat up, clutching the covers to her chest.

Jess smiled as he nodded and said, "Sure. You bet."

XXXX

Luke hummed under his breath as he moved around the kitchen, waiting for the grill to warm up. He had just assembled the ingredients for banana nut pancakes and was stepping out into the still darkened dining room to start the coffee maker when he heard the sound of footsteps on the diner steps. With a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, Luke saw Jess pause as he pulled his keys from his pocket and held them up to the light of the street lamp as he fumbled for the right one. He felt a giant fist slam into his gut as he remembered Jess saying that he was going to New Haven the night before, and realized that he must just now be getting home. Luke covered the distance in three strides, flipped the lock and jerked the door open. Jess placed his foot on the bottom step and looked up in surprise as the bells jingled. His jaw dropped when he saw his uncle towering in the doorway. "Where the hell have you been?" Luke demanded.

Jess took a deep breath and continued up the steps as he asked, "Is something wrong?"

"Wrong? You know what's wrong! Tell me you weren't where I think you were," Luke demanded as Jess brushed past him. With a flick of his wrist, Luke slammed the diner door as he followed Jess into the diner.

"It's none of your business, Luke," Jess said in a warning tone as he stalked toward the curtain.

"It is! It is my business!" Luke shouted as he hurried after Jess.

Jess whirled around and yelled, "It is not! I am not a child! Rory is not a child! And even if we were, neither of us are your child!" When Luke stepped back as if he had been struck, Jess stepped toward him quickly. "Luke," he started to say.

Luke shook his head angrily and said, "No, you're right. Do whatever the hell you're gonna do," he said as he turned on his heel and stalked back into the diner, pressing his hand to his stomach.

"You know I didn't mean that," Jess said firmly as he stepped back through the curtain.

"You're right. You're not kids, and you're not my kids," Luke called over his shoulder as he tried to seek refuge in the kitchen. When he leaned back against the counter, he saw Jess step into the doorway and said, "I wouldn't recommend it, I have knives in here."

"I'm in love with her," Jess said in a low voice.

"I know you are," Luke answered as he turned his head away from his nephew.

"She loves me too," Jess told him.

"You're too young," Luke said in a hoarse voice.

Jess chuckled softly and said, "We're not that young, and it's not like either of us haven't..."

"I meant that you're too young for all of this," Luke said abruptly, cutting off whatever information his nephew was about to share about his sexuality, or his step-daughter's for that matter.

"I can't help that," Jess said with a shrug.

Luke turned, placed both hands on the counter and hung his head as he leaned into it. "I know that too," he said quietly. Without turning to look at Jess he asked, "What are you going to do when she graduates and goes off to do whatever it is she's going to do? Are you going with her? Are you going to stay?" he asked. When Jess didn't answer, Luke finally turned to look at him as he said, "She won't stay. She can't. Trust me, I know," he said bluntly.

"We have a couple of years to figure that out," Jess answered finally.

Luke nodded as he pushed his hands into his jeans pockets and said, "Yeah, yeah. I guess you do."

Jess glanced back at the curtain, anxious for escape, but unwilling to leave things the way there were. He cleared his throat and said, "You know that I didn't mean that, right? You know, what you are. To both of us," he added as he watched Luke warily.

"Yeah," Luke muttered as he stared down at his boots.

When it became apparent that Luke had nothing more to say, Jess stepped back and said, "I'm gonna go."

"Yeah, okay," Luke said as he glanced up and then nodded again. When he was sure he was gone, Luke sagged back against the counter and ran his hand over his face and wondered what the hell he was going to tell Lorelai.

The bells above the diner door jingled and Luke looked up as Kirk called out, "Please tell me you're open. I've been up since four."

"Get out, Kirk!" Luke yelled back.

"But Luke," Kirk protested.

"Out! Not one minute before six," Luke shouted.

Kirk sighed as he turned, pulling the door closed behind him as he said loudly, "You'd think when you make someone your best man, you'd get a little better treatment."

Luke sighed and muttered, "And it started out so good," as he started shoving the pancake ingredients back into their proper places on the shelves. "They'll have to take the French toast or shove it," he growled.


	7. You Gotta Know When to Hold 'Em

**Gotta Know When to Hold 'Em**

"Dammit, Jake!" Lorelai exclaimed a little too sharply as a glob of mushy banana hit her cheek and plopped onto the front of her shirt. She grabbed the roll of paper towels she kept nearby whenever the twins were eating and tore one off, her movements jerky and agitated. She brushed ineffectually at the spot on her shirt, and then looked up just in time to see Jake's face crumple and a heart wrenching sob escaped the lips that had been smiling just moments before. Lorelai quickly unstrapped Jake from the high chair and cuddled him close to her as she crooned, "I'm so sorry. Bad Mommy." She rocked him back and forth as he let loose with another wail. "I know, I know. It was just banana. You're right, I shouldn't have yelled," she told him. "I'm a little cranky," she admitted as she pulled back to look at him. "You know something about that, don't you Ja-luke?" she said coaxingly. She looked down at the banana coated fingers clutching the front of her shirt and sighed. "I'm so sorry. Forgive me, baby boy?" she asked as she brushed a tear from his eye with the pad of her thumb. "Real tears," she murmured softly. "A little banana isn't worth real tears," she said as she held him close again, cradling his head with her hand as she moved from side to side to soothe him. She smiled at Josh, who watched the scene with interest, trying to decide if he had anything to add. "You're right it's not," she said as she smiled brightly over Jake's head, hoping to head off a fraternal show of solidarity.

She carried Jake over to the sink and carefully pried one sticky hand from her shirt. She nipped a bit of banana from his finger, which earned her a tremulous smile, and then wet a paper towel to wipe off the rest of his hand. "Tell you a secret, Ja-luke. I'm a little pouty. Daddy wasn't here when we woke up," she said to him. "I know he doesn't work Sundays very much anymore, so I shouldn't be upset, but I can't help it. Sunday's are our time," she said with a nod as she dropped the soggy paper towel onto the counter and then kissed his dimpled knuckles.

"I should probably stop telling you my secrets now that you guys are starting to talk. You could turn out to be blabber mouths," she said as she carried him back over to the high chair. Jake resisted when she tried to re-seat him, clinging to her shirt with both hands. "You need to finish your eggs," she told him solemnly. "Look at Joshie, he's eating," she said encouragingly as she turned Jake and sat down in the chair positioned between the two high chairs. She settled Jake onto her lap and handed him a bit of scrambled egg. "Go ahead, this shirt is already destined for the hamper," she said with a sigh as she placed his bowl within his grasp at the edge of the table.

Lorelai sat back as Jake began to take interest in his breakfast again, and tried to get a handle on her strange mood. She knew that she was feeling irrationally edgy. Especially given the previous night's activities, she thought with a smirk. Rationally, she knew that she shouldn't have felt abandoned when she woke up to find Luke's side of the bed empty, but she did. Rationally, she knew that this Sunday was an anomaly. She knew that Caesar had just needed the day off to attend his niece's christening party, but she still resented it. Lorelai loved Sundays at home, even though, rationally, she knew that they were nothing special.

The day was usually filled with a thousand little chores, but somehow they all seemed so much easier when both of them were there. Luke would fix things around the house, and she would get the mountains of laundry the four of them created caught up. But there were usually pancakes for breakfast, and right now, she really wanted some pancakes. And, Sundays usually included some kind of a Daddy-hoodlum bonding activity, which afforded her some of her best Kodak moments. Lorelai smiled as she thought of the photo that was on her camera from the previous Sunday. In her head, she had already titled it, 'The Man-Nap' and was picking out a frame for it. Luke had been wrestling with the boys on the living room floor while Lorelai was upstairs putting away the laundry, offering himself up as human sacrifice in an attempt to wear down a little of their boundless energy.

By the time she came back downstairs, the peals of high pitched laughter and the deep chuckles that echoed them had quieted, and she peeked into the living room to find the three of them sacked out on the couch. It took only a second for her to realize that this was a moment that needed to be captured. She dashed back up the stairs and hurried to the nursery to find her camera. Five minutes later, Lorelai lounged against the living room doorway, torn between staring at the pictures she had captured and the real life tableau the men in her life presented. Luke looked every bit the jock, dressed in an ancient t-shirt and a ratty pair of cut off sweat pants, there was two day's growth of beard on his face, and his muscles were flexed as he had his arms flung up over his head, and his chest rose and fell steadily. Josh had snuggled into the spot between his father's chest and the back of the couch, his small hand grasping a fistful of Luke's shirt and his pink cheek pressed into Luke at the exact same spot she would have chosen herself. Jake, in his usual fashion, had more than likely outlasted them both. Also in his usual way, he slept where he fell, draped across Luke's thigh, with an arm and a leg hanging down on each side for balance. His face was turned more into Luke's leg, as if he had been rubbing his cheek against the soft cotton of the shorts to soothe himself to sleep, and she was sure he had.

Lorelai's reverie was cut short though when Jake reached for his bowl again, and accidentally pulled it off of the edge of the table. It clattered to the floor, and Jake looked up at her in shock. Lorelai smiled as she rubbed his back said, "S'okay." She lifted him from her lap and lowered him back into his high chair as she said, "I'll get you some yogurt." This time, Jake went peaceably, their earlier disagreement forgotten as he eyed Josh's tray covetously. Instead of making her feel better, the thought of what Sunday's were supposed to be made her feel even more resentful. Lorelai plucked a container of yogurt from the fridge and scowled as she walked over to pluck a baby spoon from the drawer. She knew that she was being childish, but she didn't care.

She also knew that the fact that Luke wasn't there that wasn't the only thing making her cranky. Lorelai was worried. She was worried about the baby. She was worried that she wasn't feeling that telltale wave of nausea that, in her irrational mind, meant that all was well. She was worried that she wasn't going to be able to handle two toddlers and a newborn. Worried about the inn. Worried about how they were going to juggle it all. Worried that she had hardly heard from her first born lately and missed her terribly. Worried that this thing between Rory and Jess could be the undoing of all that they had built in the last three years. Worried that she was worrying too much. Worried that worrying about worrying too much would finally drive her over the brink. She paused, staring at the Power Rangers spoon in her hand for a moment, and then reached for another, knowing that the moment Josh saw her spoon feeding Jake, he would want in on it too.

She had just settled back into her chair when the phone rang. Blowing out an impatient breath, Lorelai stood up and leaned over, snatching the portable phone from its cradle and pressing the power button before she even sat back down. "Hello?" she answered in a dejected tone.

"Hi, Mom," Rory said cautiously.

Too preoccupied to hear the hesitance in her daughter's voice, Lorelai started to pry the lid off of the yogurt as she said, "Hmm, the voice sounds familiar, but I can't place it. Hey, am I on _This is Your Life_?" she asked sarcastically.

"Mom, you know what the last month of school is like," Rory said with a sigh.

"Yes, apparently very busy," Lorelai drawled as she tossed the lid onto the table and picked up the red Power Ranger spoon and stirred the yogurt.

"Mom, I'm a big girl now. I am capable of deciding what's right for me," Rory said defensively.

"Oh, so this was just a show of independence?" Lorelai asked, arching an eyebrow at Jake as she held the spoon up to his lips. When he made an attempt to grab it, she shook her head and said, "Nuh uh, you can't be trusted."

"Can't be trusted?" Rory asked in a shocked tone. "When have you ever known me to do something without knowing exactly what I was doing?" Rory demanded in an injured tone.

"I meant Jake, he nailed me with banana just a little bit ago," Lorelai said distractedly as she fed Jake the spoonful. "I'm sure that you know exactly what you're doing," she assured Rory.

"I do," Rory confirmed. "How's Luke? Is her really upset? Jess feels horrible," she said sadly.

"Luke? You're worried about Luke being upset? You don't care if I'm upset?" Lorelai scoffed as she picked up the blue Power Ranger spoon and offered Josh a bite.

"Of course I care that you're upset. I just know that what Jess said was really a low blow," Rory said, the defensiveness back in her tone. "He didn't mean it."

"What Jess said when?" Lorelai asked with a confused frown as she turned back to Jake.

"This morning," Rory said impatiently.

"Jess said something bad to Luke this morning?" Lorelai asked as she gave Jake another spoonful of yogurt.

"Well, yeah. He just, Luke took him by surprise," Rory tried to justify.

Lorelai glanced at the clock and said, "I'm surprised that Jess was up early enough on a Sunday morning to get into it with Luke. Doesn't he usually stay up all night pecking away at his keyboard?" she asked as Jake dripped yogurt down his chin and then grinned at her.

"Well, yeah, but Luke was already there when Jess got home," Rory said in a confused tone.

"Got home from where?" Lorelai asked distractedly as she wiped Jake's mouth and then frowned at him pointedly before turning back to Josh.

"From here," Rory said impatiently.

"From there?" Lorelai asked, the spoon pausing halfway to Josh's gaping mouth as the conversation finally clicked into place. "Jess got home from there? This morning?" she asked in a shocked tone.

"Yes," Rory admitted. "Didn't Luke tell you?" she asked in a befuddled voice.

"No," Lorelai whispered as a dollop of yogurt splatted onto Josh's tray.

"Oh," Rory breathed.

"Jess spent the night? There? With you?" Lorelai asked slowly.

"Ma!" Josh cried, anxious to get her moving again.

"Yeah," Rory confessed. "I thought he would have called you. They got into kind of a bad fight," she explained.

"No, he didn't call me," Lorelai said as she shook her head to clear it. She fed Josh his spoonful of yogurt before dropping the spoon back into the container and placing it on the table. "So, you and Jess, uh, spent the night together?" she asked apprehensively.

"Mom, we love each other," Rory said quietly.

"Yeah," Lorelai said as she exhaled loudly.

"Are you okay?" Rory asked, breaking the silence that stretched between them.

"I'm fine," Lorelai said too quickly. "Um, are you okay?" she asked, wincing as she closed her eyes and braced for Rory's answer.

"I'm fine," Rory assured her.

"And you were, uh, safe?" Lorelai asked as she squeezed her eyes shut tighter.

"All of those Trojan man jokes must have sunk in," Rory said, trying to keep her voice light.

"Oh God," Lorelai whispered as Jake began to pound on his tray calling "Mamama!" Lorelai pressed her hand to her forehead as she let her head fall forward.

"Mom, please," Rory said as Lorelai remained quiet.

"I just need a minute to catch my breath," Lorelai murmured as Josh joined in, banging his palm against his tray and calling for her attention.

"Mom, this is a good thing. Me and Jess, I mean," she said quickly. "The whole thing, not that thing specifically," she babbled.

Lorelai pressed her lips together firmly, but when she opened her mouth, her fears came out. "Rory, it changes everything," she said softly. "We can't go back."

"We don't want to go back, Mom. This is better," Rory insisted.

"But," Lorelai began to protest, and then cut herself off. She looked up, the cacophony of noise the boys were making fading to a dull hum as she took a deep breath and said, "I want you to be happy."

"I am happy," Rory answered firmly.

Lorelai nodded as she looked from Josh to Jake and then down at the banana stains on her shirt which had upset her so much just a short time before. "I have to finish feeding these guys," she said dully.

"Mom," Rory said cajolingly, unwilling to let it go yet.

"Can't you hear them Rory?" Lorelai asked with an edge to her voice. "I'm just, I'm a little overwhelmed at the moment," she said, softening her tone.

"Will you call me later? So we can talk?" Rory asked reluctantly.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll call you later," Lorelai promised.

Rory chewed the inside of her cheek as she hesitated for a moment. "Okay. I'll talk to you later, then," she said quietly.

"I love you, Sweets," Lorelai said reassuringly.

"I love you too, Mom," Rory answered before she hung up.

Lorelai disconnected and stared at the phone in her hand for a minute. When the twins continued to vie for her attention, Lorelai snapped, "Can you just give me a minute? Please?" There was a stunned moment of silence as Josh and Jake stared at her wide eyed. "Thank you," she said as she dropped the phone and reached for the yogurt again and quickly began shoveling it into their open mouths to ward off the tantrum that her raised voice was sure to bring.

Lorelai fed them, turning mechanically from one to the other, and keeping her eyes carefully averted from the phone. At that moment, no matter what it was that Jess had said to upset Luke, she was more upset with him for not warning her. "I could have been prepared," Lorelai muttered as she scraped yogurt from the bottom of the container.

"Mama," Josh said quietly.

Lorelai turned to look at him, and he smiled at her winningly. In spite of the confusion and anger welling inside of her, Lorelai smiled. "Okay, you win the last bite, but Jake gets the rest of your banana," she said as she brew out her frustration in one long breath.

XXXX

"He didn't tell her," Rory reported moments later.

"He didn't?" Jess asked, surprised.

"No," Rory said dully.

"Good," Jess answered as he stared up at his bedroom ceiling.

"I did, though," Rory admitted as she clutched her pillow and breathed in the scent of him.

"Oh geez," Jess groaned as he covered his eyes with his hand.

"Well, I thought he had, and so I was nervous and rambling, and then I realized that he hadn't told her at about the same moment she realized what was going on," Rory said defensively.

"I know, I know," Jess murmured. After a moment he asked, "How's she take it?"

"Well, I don't think they'll be throwing us a party," Rory said with a nervous laugh.

"Oh geez," Jess groaned again.

"She'll be fine. She said that she was just a little overwhelmed. The boys were screaming in the background, and I think she was mainly just flustered," Rory said, trying to reassure herself as much as him. "We're going to talk later," she said with a nod.

"I shoulda come home," Jess muttered.

Rory paused, taken aback for a moment. "Yes, well, you were no match for my powers of seduction," she said stiffly. "Sorry to have put you in such a compromising position," Rory said as the hurt welled up inside of her.

"No, Rory, no," Jess said quickly as he sat up on his bed. "I just, I don't mean, oh crap," he sighed in defeat and attempted to gather his thoughts before he opened his mouth again. "You know I don't feel that way," he said at last. When Rory remained quiet, he said, "I don't regret it. Not for a minute. I just, I'm kind of hating myself at the moment, you know, about Luke and now your mom," he trailed off.

"And me?" she asked quietly.

"I love," he answered.

"It'll all be fine, Jess. This will blow over, I'll be home in a couple of weeks, and they'll get used to things," she said, trying to convince both of them at once.

"I think that maybe we should, um, lay low. What with finals and all, let's not give them or us anything more to worry about," Jess said.

"Wow, now who's changing his tune?" Rory grumbled.

"I'm not, I'm just saying that maybe for the next couple of weeks we should just focus on getting the school year behind us and then we'll be together. We'll deal with it better together," he said with quiet confidence.

"Yeah, we will. And they will too, once they get used to seeing us together. I think right now it's all too amorphous for them," Rory agreed.

"Wow, that's a Yale worthy word," Jess teased, smiling for the first time since he stepped foot into the diner early that morning.

"Well, I guess I should go dig up a few more of them and put them in this paper," Rory said reluctantly. "I feel bad that you're there and I'm here," she confessed.

"I feel bad about that too," Jess said with a low chuckle.

Rory smiled and said, "I meant that you're left there to deal with it, with them."

"I'll be fine," Jess said with more confidence than he felt. "I meant something else," he teased.

"I know you did. Now, stop trying to distract me, I have to get this school year behind me," she told him.

Jess smiled and said, "Never thought I'd hear you say that."

"Well, I'm looking forward to a good summer," Rory answered.

"I'll call you later," he promised.

"Be sure that you do," Rory warned and then closed her phone. She rolled over, pressing her nose into the pillow and breathing deeply. After a moment, she pushed herself up on her arms and murmured, "Okay, time to compare and contrast."

Jess closed his phone and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He glanced at the clock and realized that the morning was slipping away. He dropped the phone into his pocket as he stood up, and bent over to retrieve the bag holding his laptop from the floor by the bed. Jess carried his laptop into the kitchen and powered it up. As soon as his icons appeared on the desktop, he clicked on 'Nuts' and waited while the pages loaded. The cursor beckoned to him as he paused to take a deep breath, and then began writing.

_She was perfect. Not in that Hollywood idealized version of airbrushed beauty that the world bought into. She was perfection incarnate. She was warm, soft skin that radiated heat beneath his touch, sweet words that sang in his head, and quiet laughter that filled him with a joy he hadn't realized existed anywhere other than the printed page. If Jeff was once awed by Lori's ability to make his heart race with a single look, he was now completely lost. Nothing and no one would ever compare to her perfection. And he knew that he would never feel as happy, as complete, or as perfect as he had felt in her arms._

Jess sat back and re-read the words on the screen. After a moment, he asked aloud, "What? No commentary?" He scanned the paragraph again, and all he heard was a deep throaty laugh that soothed his troubled mind with its unspoken 'I told you so.'

XXXX

After the lunch rush, Luke handed the dining room over to Lane and trudged home dejectedly. He knew that he was going to have to tell Lorelai what had happened that morning, and he dreaded it. He dreaded it because the realization of what had apparently happened last night made things all too real. He dreaded it because the moment the words were out of his mouth, their carefully constructed bubble of denial would burst. He dreaded it because he wasn't sure how Lorelai would take the news, her moods having been more volatile than bubbling volcano for the past week. He dreaded it because he would have to think of what Jess had said to him. He dreaded having to repeat the words out loud.

In that moment, Luke felt more empathy for any person who had ever tried to parent a child who was not their own than he had ever believed possible. He had fooled himself into believing that his relationships with Rory and Jess were different. He liked to think that he was more than just a stand in for the parent that had been missing from their lives. He liked to think that he was confident enough in those relationships that it wouldn't hurt when the inevitable slights happened. He didn't like to think that he had been wrong, but at the moment, wrong was the only thing he felt.

He opened the front door and called, "Hello?" in a tired voice.

"In here," Lorelai called back from the living room where the twins were enthralled with a cooking demonstration on TV. The moment Luke appeared in the doorway she pounced. "You couldn't call me? Warn me? Give me a little time to prepare myself?" she demanded.

Luke stepped back, recoiling from the vehemence of her attack. "I guess you know," he said slowly.

"Yes, I know, no thanks to you!" she hissed mockingly.

"I didn't want to talk about this in the middle of the diner," he shot back, smothering the hurt that balled in his gut with anger. "I thought it would be better to wait until I got home," he said defensively.

"A call, Luke! All you had to do was call and say, 'Hey, something happened with Rory and Jess last night,' that would have helped," she cried in frustration.

"And you would have been satisfied with that? You wouldn't have demanded the full play by play?" he sneered. He brushed her off with a wave of his hand as he said dismissively, "Yeah, right."

"I was blindsided!" Lorelai said as she clutched her hands to her heart.

"I was too!" he shouted, startling both of the boys and drawing their attention away from the crème brulee that was being browned with a tiny blow torch.

They stared at each other for a moment, both of their chests heaving with exertion and suppressed emotion. "What did he say to you?" she asked in a calmer tone. "Rory said Jess said something bad," she prompted.

Luke's lips twisted into a sad facsimile of a smile as he said, "Nothing I didn't already know," as his eyes strayed to Josh and Jake. He watched them turn their attention back to the screen, and felt an odd tug of satisfaction as he realized that they were watching a cooking show.

"Luke," Lorelai said in a softly cajoling voice as she stepped closer to him.

Luke simply shook his head and said, "We both overreacted."

"Well, that makes three of us," Lorelai said as she crossed her arms over her chest, annoyed that he wasn't going to tell her.

Luke sighed and rubbed his hand over his face as he said, "It was just stupid. No big thing."

"Fine," she snapped. "You don't have to tell me a damn thing. You never do anyway." She lifted her chin and said, "Your sons have been hell on wheels all morning, if you don't mind, I'd like to take a shower," she said as she tried to brush past him.

Luke grabbed her arm to stop her and said, "I cannot be your punching bag today. Any other day, fine, but not today."

"Yeah, well it hasn't been a good morning for me either," she said in a cold voice.

Luke stared at her intently and said in a low controlled voice, "I'm going to chalk it up to the hormones again, just like I have been every day for the last couple of weeks. Believe me, if I thought it would help, I'd stick my own fingers down your throat and hold your hair all day long, but it won't," he said with an edge of desperation in his voice. "I don't know what to do, Lorelai, but I do know that I can't talk about this when were angry."

"Okay," she answered slowly.

"Take your shower, I'll try to unwind a little, and then, can we try this again?" he asked sincerely.

Lorelai nodded and said, "I'll be down in a little bit."

Luke released her arm and watched as she walked from the room. When she was gone, he dropped to his knees with a groan and waited patiently for the boys to notice him again, losing himself for a moment in the drone of the chef's voice. When the show broke for a commercial, he cleared his throat slightly and Josh tore himself away from the scrubbing bubbles racing around on the screen long enough to look over at him. "Hey," Luke said in a raspy voice as Josh's dark blue eyes fixed on him.

"Da!" Josh cried happily, as if noticing him for the first time. He smiled as he scooted over to Luke on his hands and knees.

Luke scooped him up into a hug and closed his eyes tightly as he said, "Use your feet, lazybones."

"Da! Ook!" Jake said as he held up a pink horse with a purple and pink mane.

"Nice," Luke chuckled as he held out his other arm. He watched as Jake pushed to his feet and walked over to him. Luke snatched him up, and with a loud growl pressed the giggling boys together in a bear hug. He pulled back and then placed both of then gently on their feet, holding them until he was sure that they were steady as he murmured, "My boys," under his breath just before he felt the plastic hooves of the My Little Pony smack into his chest. Luke rolled his eyes as he picked up the toy and handed it back to Jake saying, "Good arm."

XXXX

Luke looked up from his cards warily as the talk turned to women as it inevitably did. The only difference was that, this time, instead of gloating over their good fortune in capturing the fairest in the land, they were bemoaning the trials of being married to the most irrational women in the world. Luke smirked as he realized that Kirk had the grave misfortune to have his bachelor night attended by three expectant fathers. They had made all of the right sympathetic noises as Andrew detailed the difficulties of dealing with a pregnant woman who always had a wrench close at hand. Jackson quickly one-upped him with Sookie's kitchen knives, but Luke remained quiet, muttering only the occasional comment on Lorelai's bizarre food combinations.

Only Kirk and Richard seemed truly happy to be there. Kirk sat back, looking like a complete idiot as he puffed on the cigar Richard had offered him and fingering his ever dwindling pile of pennies contentedly; serenely smug in the delusion that Lulu would never give him such problems. Richard helped himself to another hunk of the giant hoagie he had ordered as he regaled them with a story about the fit Emily had thrown the week before when someone had served another woman the first cup of tea at some society function. Apparently, Emily felt that she should have been given the tea in question, and proceeded to rearrange the entire seating charts of three separate functions in retaliation. Every once in a while, Luke's eyes flickered to the spot where Jess sat quietly reaping the benefits of their distraction and sleep deprivation.

They had hardly spoken that week, only grunted acknowledgements if they happened to pass each other coming or going through the diner. Rory had spoken to Lorelai every night that week, earnestly explaining her thoughts and feelings on everything from Jess, to Luke, to the town, and her worries over Richard and Emily's reaction to the news of her blossoming relationship. At the end of each conversation, each one of them dutifully reported the salient information to their silent men, but the gap had yet to be breached.

For his part, Jess had been seriously thinking of ditching out on the stag night, but Rory was insistent, and as usual he was powerless to resist her. He kept thinking about what she had been telling him; how hurt and upset Lorelai said Luke was, how they were really okay with the thought of the two of them together, but just stunned that things seemed to be progressing faster than they had anticipated. He knew that Rory was sincere when she explained to her mother that the more physical aspects of their relationship felt natural and right for both of them. He knew that Lorelai believed Rory when she told her of the depths of their feelings for each other. And he also knew that he had absolutely no idea how to fix things with Luke.

Rory reported that Lorelai said that Luke was even more absorbed in the boys than normal, if that was possible. She said that Luke was taking over more and more of the workload with them, using Lorelai's pregnancy and their need to be cautious as an excuse. She also told him that Luke had never told Lorelai the exact words that Jess had used against him. Jess picked up the two cards that had been dealt to replace his discards and arranged them in his hand as Kirk droned on and on about his mother, and her involvement in the wedding planning.

The enthusiasm in Kirk's voice had long since dwindled away by the time he finished his recitation with a heavy sigh and a heartfelt, "I wish my dad was here to see this."

Luke's eyes immediately flickered to Richard, who offered him a slight smile in acknowledgement of the memory. When Luke turned his attention back to the cards in his hand, he noticed Jess' dark eyes fixed on him intently. Luke frowned in puzzlement as he asked, "My raise?"

"Yeah," Jess said shortly, his gaze unwavering.

"I'll bump you up a little," Luke said as he tossed a stack of pennies into the pot. He watched the others fold, trying to ignore Jess' stare, but soon found that it was down to the two of them and Andrew.

When Luke looked back at him, Jess tossed his cards down on the table and said, "I've got nothin'."

The hand was played out, and Luke puzzled over what had just happened, sensing that he was supposed to take something from that exchange, but not really sure what. As Andrew raked in his winnings, Luke pushed back from the table and said, "I need a little fresh air." He carried his empty bottle over to the recycle bin, and then pulled a fresh beer from the fridge before slipping out of the French doors. He stood staring at the glow of the lights in the still waters of the swimming pool when he heard the door close quietly behind him.

A moment later, Jess stood next to him, his eyes fixed on the pool as he said, "Smoky in there."

Luke snorted a little and said, "You still smoke sometimes."

Jess glanced over at him in surprise and asked, "How do you know that?"

Luke rolled his eyes and said, "I can smell it."

"That's cigar smoke, though," Jess said as he jerked his head toward the pool house.

"Like there's a big difference," Luke said dryly as he took a sip of his beer. He lowered the bottle and said, "Either way, I'm gonna have to shower three times before I can get in bed with Lorelai. She has some kind of super-sensory pregnancy smelling thing going on."

"Morning sickness?" Jess asked, thankful to have a thread of conversation to cling to until he could work his way up to saying what he wanted to say.

Luke shook his head and said, "No. At least, not yet."

"That's good," Jess said with a nod.

"Good and bad," Luke said with a shrug. "Lorelai is convinced that means something is wrong," he told him.

Jess shook his head quickly and said, "I don't know anything about all that."

"Thank God," Luke muttered under his breath as he took another sip of his beer.

"I can say that I'm sorry again, but I can't take it back," Jess said quietly.

"There's no need," Luke answered quickly.

"There's some kind of need, I just don't know what it is," Jess mumbled as he took a drink from his bottle. "Story of my life," he added with a wry smile.

Luke stared at the main house for a moment, trying to formulate his words. Finally he said, "Once, you stood in that house and told me that you wanted what I had. Wanted my life," he said with a sigh. He turned to glance over at Jess as he said, "I want more than that for you, for both of you." When Jess didn't respond, he said, "I want you to go places, do things, and see things. Live your life while you're young, while you can. And then, then, I want you to have my life," he finished gruffly. "Then I want you to have everything that I have, because, other than the moments of hormonal moodiness, it's great," he said as he shook his head in wonder. "But I have to admit, you and Rory strikes a little too close. I'm scared you won't go. I'm scared you won't do. I'm scared you won't be you, you'll be me. Just like me," he finished with a rueful chuckle.

"I have plans, Luke," Jess said as he gazed at the still waters of the pool. "I have plans, it's just that now they include Rory," he said with confidence.

"And if your plans don't mesh with hers?" Luke asked in a husky voice.

Jess turned to look at him as he said, "That's the chance everyone takes."

"But when she leaves…" Luke started to say.

"My plans are incredibly portable," Jess cut him off with a small smile. He placed his hand hesitantly on Luke's shoulder as he said, "Best Christmas present I've ever gotten." He turned to look back at the brightly lit pool house and cleared his throat before he said, "We should get back in there. I need to hit the bathroom before I finish mopping the floor with you guys."

Luke snorted and said, "Yeah, you add up those pennies and you might have almost three dollars. Be there in a minute," Luke said as he drew in another deep breath of fresh air. As soon as the door closed behind Jess, he pulled his cell from his jeans pocket and held the number one down. When she answered, he smiled and asked, "How's it going?" Luke turned away from the pool house a stepped to the left, seeking shelter behind an obliging shrub as he listened. He smiled and asked, "Did you try _Goodnight Moon_?" as he dangled his beer bottle from his fingers. "No, it's time for the big guns, pull out _Goodnight Moon_. _Pat the Bunny_ is too interactive," he said with a laugh. He listened for a moment more and then said, "I know, I wish I was home. I miss you, Crazy Lady. I miss the hoodlums, too. Save a spot for me?" he asked.

XXXX

Jess stepped into the powder room off of the living room area and locked the door behind him. He pulled his cell from his jeans pocket and held the number one down until it connected. When she answered he said, "I'm killing them here." He listened for a moment and then chuckled as he said, "Well, Luke said I'd be lucky if it was three bucks, but I'm thinking it's more like five." He smiled as she flirted with him shamelessly and then said, "Yeah, I'll take you to Taylor's for an ice cream soda, two straws." He listened for a moment and then laughed as he said, "You are the only girl I have ever known who could make 'rock around the clock' sound dirty."


	8. A Passion for Reading

**A/N: With this chapter, I wrap up Family Matters. Thank you so much for reading and for your kind reviews!**

**A Passion for Reading**

Luke rubbed the towel over his head vigorously and then hung it back on the towel rack. He reached for the clean pair of boxers he had carried into the bathroom with him and pulled them on before running a comb through his damp hair. He switched off the light before opening the bathroom door and stood blinking into the darkness as he waited for his eyes to adjust to the dim glow provided by the nightlight in the hallway. When he was able to make out the shapes of the furniture, he carefully and quietly made his way to the bed. As he eased his weight down onto the mattress, Lorelai asked in a groggy voice, "You have fun?"

"Yeah, sure, go back to sleep," he whispered.

Lorelai rolled over to face him as he settled back onto his pillow and said, "Can't really sleep without you." She wrinkled her nose and said, "You stink."

Luke grimaced and said, "I showered. Shampooed twice."

"I know. It's just me," she said as she draped her leg over his. "I'm glad you're home," she said with a contented smile.

"Lorelai?" he asked softly.

"Yeah, Babe?" she answered.

"I wasn't trying to keep it a secret. It's just that I know logically that he didn't mean it," Luke tried to explain. "I didn't want to tell you because, well, I didn't want to have to say it, and I didn't want you holding it against him. I know he didn't mean it," he said again.

"I just wish you would have talked to me about it," she said softly.

"I did. I just didn't tell you specifically what was said," Luke said defensively. "I'm sure Rory has told you. It wasn't that bad, you know, it was true. It's just that he hit where he knew it would hurt," Luke said gruffly.

"Like someone else I know," Lorelai murmured as she rubbed her nose against his bare chest.

"Yeah," Luke admitted softly.

"I get it," she assured him. Luke turned his head and kissed the top of her head as he said, "We had a good talk tonight. Or I talked," he added with a chuckle.

"So do you feel better about things? About them?" she asked.

"Well, I really don't want to know the details," Luke said dryly as he ran his hand up and down her back. "Yeah, yeah I do," he said finally.

"You want to know the details?" Lorelai asked as she lifted her head to look at him in surprise.

"No! I mean I feel better about them," Luke said quickly. "No details."

Lorelai smiled as she pressed her cheek to his chest again. She rubbed her leg slowly over his as she said, "As much as I love what we are now, I kind of envy them."

Luke smiled into the darkness as he said, "Yeah, I do too."

"We're just an old married couple," she said with a sigh.

"Yeah, yeah we are," Luke said with a smile as he began to roll over, pushing her onto her back.

"What are you doing?" Lorelai asked with a laugh.

"Exercising my marital rights," Luke answered as he lowered his lips but kept them a whisper from hers. "That okay?" he asked as he ducked his head and nuzzled her ear.

"Hang on," Lorelai said as she shifted slightly beneath him and then wrapped her arms around his neck. "Okay, I am ready. Let me cleave unto you, my husband," she said with a sly smile.

"No cleavers, though," Luke said as he kissed the corner of her mouth softly, smiling that cocky smile as her lips parted slightly in anticipation.

XXXX

"Hey," Jess said when she answered her phone in a sleep groggy voice. "You said to call when I got home. I'm home. Go back to sleep," he whispered.

"Did you have fun?" Rory asked.

"Four dollars and seventy six cents worth of fun. I'll call you tomorrow," he promised.

"Did you talk to Luke?" she asked as she sat up a little in bed.

"Yeah. We're okay," he assured her.

"Good," Rory breathed a sigh of relief.

"Study hard tomorrow. I'll call tomorrow night," he told her.

"Stupid Saturday finals," Rory grumbled.

"Only seven more days," Jess said with a smile.

"I want that ice cream soda," she warned him.

"I'll collect a few more pennies," he promised. "Goodnight."

"Night," Rory said before she closed her phone and placed it on the nightstand.

Jess tossed his phone onto his bed and stood up. He walked into the living room and braced his hand on the window frame as he looked down at the sleeping town below. He turned his neck to the side, feeling the tension that had plagued him for the past week pop and release. When he turned back to the window, he stared at the big house with the columns just across the square. Slowly, he lowered his hand and walked over to the computer. This time, instead of opening his documents, Jess clicked the envelope to open his email account and stared at the message that had arrived the day before from . As he opened the message, his eyes were automatically drawn to the words, 'I'm your father' and his lips curved as he mumbled, "Say it for me." _Jess, I am your father,_ James Earl Jones intoned obediently.

"Thank you," Jess answered with a smirk. He hit the reply button and typed: _Congratulations, your boys can swim. I'm not exactly sure what you want from me, or how you even found me, but I guess it would be safe to assume you have been in contact with Liz somehow. I appreciate you trying to make an effort by stringing three whole sentences together, but I feel the need to point out that I am 20 years old, and the time when I needed a daddy has long since passed. You don't need to worry about me, I'm fine. My life is good, great actually. I have everything that I need right here. I'm not trying to be overly rude, although I do think that after receiving your message out of the blue after 20 years, I am entitled to a touch of sarcasm. Let me just say that you don't have to worry about me needing you, or anything from you. Have a nice life, I plan to. Jess. _

Jess cleared the message telling him that his mail had been sent, and then deleted the original message from Jimmy. He clicked on the open document that had been minimized at the bottom of the screen, and re-read the words he had written earlier. Jess began to type slowly, picking up speed with every word.

_It was the first time anyone had ever really cared about him. The first time that anyone had actually given enough of a damn about him to push him into a lake and then buy out the smoking cessation aisle at the pharmacy._ "_I am not letting you just fall off the face of the earth. You will not drift, I won't let it happen. Now I don't know if this is the right way to handle this, but this is the way it's being handled, and that my friend, is the end of this discussion," Louie had said as he tossed nicotine patches and herbal remedies at him. And he had made good on that promise. Maybe not in the most orthodox ways, Jeff could admit, but never once had he doubted that Louie would be there. Trying to do the right thing, trying to be a better person, and trying to make him into one too. All Jeff knew was that the last thing he ever wanted to do was to let Louie down, and yet, he did it. All it took was a precisely timed swing below the belt, and everything that he had wanted, but would never admit to needing, hung in the balance. That was why he played penny poker with a bunch of guys twice his age or more. That was why when Dirk mentioned how he wished his father could be there for his big day Jeff couldn't help but look across the table at Louie. It was unthinkable. He couldn't imagine how he would ever be able to face the milestones in his life without knowing Louie was there to back him up. That was when he knew he had to do something. This was too big. There were too many questions, too many feelings, too many possibilities waiting for him. For them. He had to know that Louie would always be there. If for no other reason than to kick his ass so that he wouldn't fall off of the face of the earth._

XXXX

Lorelai perched on the edge of Rory's bed as she watched her daughter unpack. "Are you glad to be home?" she asked leadingly.

"Well, it's not like I had a choice," Rory said with a nonchalant shrug.

"Oh! Wounded!" Lorelai cried as she pressed her hand to her heart.

Rory smiled and said, "So glad to be home."

Lorelai watched as Rory carefully arranged her socks in the top drawer and asked, "Because of Mommy, right? You've missed Mommy?"

"Yes," Rory said with a sober nod.

"I love it when you humor me," Lorelai said as she flopped back onto the pillows. "So, you think maybe you and your guy would want to double with me and my guy tomorrow night?" she asked as she twirled one of her burls around her finger and stared up at the ceiling.

"You have more than one guy," Rory pointed out as she picked up a stack of t-shirts and carried them to the dresser.

"I was thinking of the tall one. I'd fix the two short ones up with a call girl," she said with a nod.

"A call girl?" Rory asked as she shirted things around in the drawer to make room for the shirts.

"You know, one of those girls you call, and then come over and hang out with you for money," Lorelai said with a shrug.

"I will never look at babysitters the same way again," Rory said sadly.

Lorelai smiled and said, "I don't care if you look at them, but Luke had better not, or I'll cut something off."

"Mom," Rory groaned.

"What? A hand, a foot! What were you thinking?" she asked with a devilish grin.

"I wasn't thinking anything, but you should know that in my mind Luke is built about like a Ken doll," Rory answered as she carried an armload of toiletries into her bathroom.

"You are so wrong," Lorelai said with a laugh.

"Okay, stop," Rory called from the bathroom.

"You were the one that went right to the dirty place," Lorelai pointed out as a loud howl sounded from the kitchen.

Rory stepped out of the bathroom, glanced at her bedroom door and then back at Lorelai as she asked, "Don't you want to see if he's okay?"

Lorelai shook her head and said, "Josh likes to protest the baby jail. It's a thing he does, a bit. Luke's in there, he's fine." She pushed herself up against the headboard and asked, "Why? Do you want to get rid of me already?"

"No, but that's quite the blood curdling scream he has developed," Rory said in a low admiring voice.

"I know, he's honing his skills in drama, it's his new calling in life," Lorelai said with a nod.

"You feel okay?" Rory asked with a concerned frown.

Lorelai nodded happily and said, "Almost barfed when I tried to eat my eggs yesterday morning."

"Wow, uh, good for you," Rory said with a laugh.

"I was never so happy to feel nauseated. I was beginning to miss Spain," she said with a grin.

"You are sick and twisted," Rory said with a shake of her head as she started to unpack a box of books.

"Twisted, I have always been, and yes, now I am a tad sick," Lorelai said with a grin. "It can go away again, though. I feel much better about things now," she said firmly.

"I don't think it works like that," Rory said as she began to slide books into their proper order on the already packed shelves. "You know that you should be careful what you wish for," she warned.

Lorelai covered her stomach with her hand and said, "Honestly, I don't care if I puke three times a day every day as long as everything is okay. I feel like this baby is here now for a reason, or meant to be, or something," she said with a shrug.

"You might change your tune if that actually were to happen," Rory said with a wry smile as she sat down on the other side of the bed and pushed back to sit next to Lorelai.

"You're probably right. That's why I haven't put anything in writing," Lorelai said as she looked over at Rory. "I am glad you're home, though. If you want, I'll put that in writing. Sky writing even," she offered.

Rory smiled and said, "I believe you." She leaned over, resting her head against Lorelai's shoulder as she said, "I'm glad to be home too."

"Luke's making you lasagna," Lorelai said softly as they listened to the clamor of pots and pans in the kitchen.

"He's sweet," Rory said with a contented sigh as Lorelai wrapped her arm around Rory's shoulders and pulled her closer.

"My baby," Lorelai said softly.

Rory glanced up at her uneasily and asked, "You aren't going to get all weepy are you?"

"Maybe," Lorelai said with a watery smile.

"Mom," Rory said with a sigh.

"Damn hormones," Lorelai whispered.

Rory sat up and turned toward Lorelai as she reached to hug her mother, burying her face in the crook of Lorelai's neck as she whispered, "My Mommy."

"Mean!" Lorelai gasped in a choked voice as she stroked Rory's silky hair and held her daughter close.

Rory smiled contentedly and said, "Well, it is fun to prod the preggo."

XXXX

"We paid a babysitter so that we could go see that?" Luke grumbled as the four of them walked out of the bookstore the following night.

"No, we paid a babysitter so that we could get out of the house for a few hours," Lorelai said pointedly. "I'm so sorry you're missing Sports Roundup, or whatever it is."

"Sports Center, and it's not on until later," Luke answered. When he caught Lorelai's glare, he quickly said, "Not that I planned to watch it. It's date night."

Rory laughed and said, "Man, just the threat of a meltdown makes him cave. Quick, tell him that you demand ice cream," she told Lorelai.

"I need ice cream," Lorelai said with a stubborn lift of her chin.

Luke rolled his eyes and glared at Rory as he said, "I thought you liked me."

Rory laughed and turned toward the Soda Shoppe as she said, "I do like you, it's just that I like ice cream too. Plus, somebody owes me a soda," she said as she gave Jess a playful nudge with her elbow.

"I guess we're having ice cream," Jess said to Luke as they fell into step behind the girls.

"Your finals go okay?" Luke asked him as they walked.

Jess nodded and said, "Yep." He smirked as he caught sight of Lulu and Kirk walking across the square hand in hand and asked, "You ready to suit up to play on Kirk's team?"

Luke shot his a hard glanced out of the corner of his eye and said, "Don't mess with me. I have more power than you think."

Jess smiled as he said, "You're right. I guess I should watch my step."

"And your hands," Luke added as the girls came to a halt in front of the Soda Shoppe. When they looked at him expectantly, he shook his head in confusion and asked, "What?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes and said, "This is a date," as she looked from him to the door.

"Sorry," he grumbled as he opened the door and stepped back to allow them to enter ahead of him. As Lorelai followed Rory and Jess into the store she smiled at Luke flirtatiously. Luke released the door handle and stepped in just behind her and whispered, "I'm hoping to get lucky," in her ear.

Lorelai smiled as she glanced back at him and said, "Try harder."

Luke simply shook his head as Rory pointed to the table she thought they needed and the girls hopped up onto the stools. "Chocolate and peanut butter?" he asked Lorelai.

Lorelai thought for a moment and then shook her head. "Fudge ripple and butter pecan."

"Cone or cup?" he asked.

"Waffle cone," she said with a nod.

"God help us," Luke muttered as he turned to see Jess heading to the counter to place their order. As the girl behind the counter placed one chocolate soda on the counter, Luke frowned and asked, "Don't you want anything?"

"We're sharing," Jess said as he reached for his wallet.

"I've got it. Order something," Luke told him as he pulled his wallet form his back pocket.

Jess turned to look at him as he handed the girl a ten and asked, "You trying to make me look bad?"

"Well, I didn't know if you had enough money, you only ordered one thing," Luke said in a low voice.

"We're on a date, we're gonna share," Jess said in a harsh whisper.

Luke leaned back and looked down at him in surprise and as the smile refused to be suppressed spread over his face. "Aren't you just precious?" he teased.

"Shut up," Jess grumbled as he plucked two straws from the dispenser.

"Oh my God. I hope Lorelai has her camera with her," Luke laughed.

Jess stepped a little closer to his uncle and whispered, "Keep laughing and I shove my tongue down her throat right here and now."

"Hey!" Luke admonished as the smile flew from his face.

Jess smirked and said, "She'd like it too."

"That's not funny," Luke said with a scowl.

"I'm not kidding," Jess answered. "Truce?" he asked. When Luke hesitated, Jess glanced over at the table where the girls sat chattering away and said, ""I've seen you and Lorelai kiss lots of times. I never really commented on your technique," he added thoughtfully.

"Truce," Luke said quickly.

Jess jerked his chin at the counter and said, "Your waffle cone is ready," as he turned and sauntered over to the table.

Luke tossed his money onto the counter and waved away the change as he took Lorelai's cone and his cup of vanilla and stomped back to the table. "You okay?" Lorelai asked softly as he handed her the cone with a fierce scowl.

"Nothing a little bleach on my brain won't help," Luke muttered as he watched Rory smiling at Jess as she unwrapped both straws and dropped them into the tall glass.

"Babe?" Lorelai asked worriedly.

Luke simply shook his head and said, "Nothing. I had her put hot fudge and sprinkles on for you, does that count for points?"

"Totally counts," Lorelai said with a grin as she dug into the sundae cone with her spoon. "The best thing Taylor ever did in here," Lorelai began as she rolled a bite of ice cream around on her tongue. "No plastic spoons," she said with a nod as she looked up and spotted the two straws in the glass that sat between Rory and Jess. "Oh my God! You're adorable!" she said with a laugh.

"Don't go there," Luke warned darkly.

"Aren't we?" Rory asked with a cheeky grin as she leaned forward and took a sip of the chocolate soda. She pulled the long spoon from the glass and fished the maraschino cherry from the top of a mound of whipped cream. "Want the cherry?" she asked as she offered it to Jess.

Lorelai gasped loudly and covered her mouth with her hand as Luke growled, "If you say it, I'm leaving."

"Mom!" Rory said in a shocked tone as she laughed nervously.

"Oh!" Lorelai said as she waved her free hand and wriggled on the high stool, trying to bite back the commentary that would surely send Luke scurrying from the shop.

"Lorelai," Luke said as he shot her a look.

"Oh, let her say it, we all already know what she's thinking," Jess said with a laugh.

"Fine," Luke relented as he turned his head to look at the menu board.

"Dirty!" Lorelai cried, the word bursting from her forcefully.

"You just dirtied your daughter and my nephew," Luke muttered under his breath.

"It begged for a dirty," Lorelai said indignantly.

"Eat your ice cream," he said darkly.

"Yes sir," Lorelai said in a mockingly contrite tone as she scooped up a huge bite and shoveled it into her mouth with a twinkle in her eyes.

"We are never double dating again," Luke told Jess sternly.

"Wasn't my idea, man," Jess answered with a shrug.

"Oh yes we are," Rory said with a laugh. "Next weekend, as a matter of fact," she said with a nod.

"That's right, the wedding," Lorelai confirmed.

Luke looked at Jess and said, "Soon, you are going to have a whole new appreciation of me and what my life its like. Good luck with that," he added with a smirk.

"Looking forward to it," Jess said with a nod. He turned to look at Rory who was happily slurping away at the soda and asked, "Do I get any of that?" as he pointed to the already half empty glass.

"No," Luke said with a laugh.

"Doubtful," Lorelai said sympathetically.

"Oh, did you really want some?" Rory asked innocently.

As Jess gave her an exasperated look, Luke straightened on his stool as he scooped up another tiny bite of his vanilla ice cream and said with a smug smile, "Welcome to my little corner of the world."

XXXX

"That wasn't so bad," Lorelai said as Luke crawled into bed later that night.

"No," he agreed. "At least they weren't pawing each other and stuff," he said gruffly.

Lorelai frowned and said, "They didn't even hold hands. What kind of a date is it if you don't hold hands?" she asked him worriedly.

"One with your mother and step-father and your aunt and uncle, I imagine," Luke said as he settled back onto his pillow and lifted one arm up over his head.

"You think they're making out now?" she asked him curiously.

"No I don't think that! I don't want to think about that. Would you stop putting that in there?" he asked as he gestured to his head.

"You really don't want them to be?" she asked with a concerned frown.

"It's not that, I just don't wanna think about that," Luke tried to explain. When she continued to stare at him quizzically, he sighed and said, "As a guy, if I were not related to either of them in any way, shape or form? Yeah, I'd hope they're making out, okay? Geez," he groaned.

"I love it when I can make you say stuff like that," she said as she hugged him, resting her chin on his chest and looking up at him. When he sighed heavily and rubbed a hand over his face, she smiled and asked, "Wanna make out with me?"

"Not anymore," he grumbled.

"Yes you do," she said as she gave him a squeeze.

"I can't now," he complained.

"Let me see if I can blank that out for you," she said as she pushed up and flung one leg across him. She leaned down over him, tickling his neck with her hair. "Eyes on me, Luke," she whispered.

"You're bad girl," he said as he reached up and gave her hair a tug.

Lorelai's smile was feline as she leaned down to kiss him and whispered, "Do it again. Harder."

When they broke for air, Luke whispered, "So bad," as he buried his hand in her hair and pulled her back down, crushing her lips against his.

XXXX

"Okay, stop, stop," Jess panted as he flung himself away from Rory.

"Don't stop," she corrected as she followed him across his couch.

"Rory," he said, his voice cracking with need as she pressed against him and nipped at his neck.

"Don't play hard to get, I know how easy you really are," she teased as she slipped one hand up under his shirt and felt his muscles clench.

"It feels weird," Jess said helplessly.

"What? This?" Rory asked as she frowned down at his stomach.

Jess shook his head and said, "No, the whole double date thing and now this."

Rory looked back up at him and asked, "It does?"

Jess rolled his eyes and asked, "What do you think they're doing right now?"

"Ew, Jess!" Rory said as she jerked her hand out from under his shirt.

"Well," he said helplessly.

"That's what you're thinking about?" she asked incredulously.

"No, well, kind of, but not that specifically," he stammered.

"That's sick," she told him.

"Tomorrow. Come back tomorrow when I haven't just spent the whole night looking at your mother and knowing that Luke would gladly chop my hands off with granddad's old pocketknife," he pleaded.

"They're always going to be there, Jess," she said worriedly.

"I know, but geez, this is weird," he said as he ran his hand through his hair. He reached up and touched the soft brown hair that spilled over her shoulder and said, "I want to be with you, but I really want to be with you, but I want it not to be weird. I want it to be right, but right now it feels weird."

Rory narrowed her eyes and asked, "You're one of those sensitive new age guys aren't you? I should have known it, you poseur."

Jess smirked and said, "I'll buy you one of those crystals on a leather necklace."

Rory kissed him softly and said, "We went out on a date, here in town. Let me read your story," she said coaxingly as she kissed her way along his jaw.

"Pulling out the big guns," Jess said with a chuckle.

"You said that I could when we went public," she reminded him.

Jess shook his head and said, "A movie and ice cream with your Mom and Luke isn't going public, it's a family outing."

"You're the one who wouldn't touch me," she pointed out.

"Did I mention the hands and the pocketknife?" he asked as he ran his hand along the column of her spine.

"Jess," she whined.

"Next weekend. After the wedding. Give me another week to work on it and then you can come back up here and read it," he said with a nod.

"Promise?" she asked.

"Promise," he answered as he cupped her cheek, drawing her in for a slow, soft kiss.

"Walk me home?" she asked in a whisper.

"Definitely," he said with a slow nod.

As they walked hand and in hand around the deserted square, Jess said, "I got an email from my dad last week."

"Your dad?" Rory asked in a stunned tone.

"Jimmy Mariano," Jess said with a nod.

"What did it say?" Rory asked.

Jess shrugged and said, "Basically it was a 'Hi, I'm your dad. Sorry about forgetting you existed for the last twenty years,' kind of email."

"Did you respond?" She asked.

Jess nodded and said, "I did."

Rory stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and stared at him dumfounded as she asked, "Aren't you going to tell me what you said?"

"What do you think I said?" Jess replied.

"I have no idea. How do you respond to that?" Rory said indignantly.

Jess draped his arm over her shoulders and pulled her along toward the house as he said, "I said thanks for thinking of me, but I'm fine. I have everything I need," he said as he gave her shoulders a squeeze.

"Did you tell Luke?" she asked as they approached the house.

"I'm a little afraid to. Things have been, you know, weird," he finished lamely. "I don't want him to get the wrong idea."

"Do you want me to mention it?" she asked.

Jess shook his head and said, "No. I'll tell him. Maybe just not until things get a little more back to normal."

"Okay," she said worriedly.

"It'll be fine," he said as he stopped on the darkened walkway and then pulled her over to the side of the steps.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I want to kiss you goodnight, but I don't want Luke to start flashing the porch light," he told her with a smirk.

"They're probably asleep," she said with a laugh.

"Light was on in their room," he told her.

"Checking for bogies?" she asked.

"Gotta know where they're firing from," he said as he bent his head to kiss her. When she started to make a remark, he shook his head slightly and whispered, "Just wanna kiss you."

XXXX

To say Luke was in a bit of a compromising position when the front door closed and would have been an understatement. "Mom? Luke? You still up?" Rory called up the stairs.

"Crap," Luke hissed as Lorelai scrambled away from him and he began to root around under the blankets for the sweat pants that were tangled around his ankles.

"Uh, yeah, hang on. Luke's just getting out of the shower," Lorelai called back. She turned to him and whispered, "Quick, go get wet."

"I need a cold shower," Luke muttered as he jerked his sweats up roughly and hurried toward their bathroom.

Lorelai plucked his shirt up off of the floor and carried it over to the bathroom door, opening it and tossing the shirt in before closing it firmly behind her. When she heard the shower come on, she walked over to the bedroom door, straightened her Marvin the Martian pajamas, smoothed her rumpled hair and tried to look sleepy as she opened the bedroom door. "Hey, Sweets," she said with a tired smile.

"Were you asleep?" Rory asked contritely.

"No, just in bed. I had to make Luke take a shower because I could still smell the, uh, onions on him, and it was driving me nuts," she said thinking quickly.

"Poor Luke," Rory said with a laugh.

Lorelai shrugged as she heard the water shut off and said, "He's used to it now." She studied Rory for a moment and then asked, "You okay?"

Rory nodded and said, "I'm fine. I just wanted to talk to you guys for a minute. Both of you," she said nervously.

Lorelai nodded and stepped back to let Rory in as she said, "Hang on, let me make sure Luke knows you're in here so he doesn't come strutting out like he usually does." She tapped on the door and called, "Hey, Luke? Rory's in here, so don't be running around naked."

"Stop that," he called back to her.

"I'm just warning you," she replied.

"I don't run around naked," Luke said loudly.

Lorelai turned back to Rory with a smirk and said, "He usually walks."

"Mom," Rory said as she squeezed her eyes shut.

"I don't walk and I don't strut around naked," Luke called back to them.

Lorelai grinned and said, "I just got you to say naked to Rory, not once, but twice."

Luke opened the bathroom door, his hair slicked back with water as he pointed to Lorelai and said, "I divorce you, I divorce you, I divorce you."

Lorelai smirked at him and said, "That doesn't work here, and no more PBS for you."

"That was an interesting show," Rory said with a nod.

"Yeah it was," Luke agreed.

"You're still married to me," Lorelai said as she poked him in the arm.

"For the moment," Luke said as he looked down at the offended arm and then back up at her.

"Uh, guys, not to break up this very serious discussion on your marital status, but can we talk for a sec?" Rory interrupted.

Luke frowned and said, "Sure, Rory," with a shrug.

Rory wrung her hands a little, and then gestured to the bed as she asked, "Can you sit? I feel kind of, uh, weird," she said with a nervous laugh. She waited until both Lorelai and Luke perched on the edge of the bed and looked up at her curiously. "Listen, I know that things are a little awkward right now," she said cautiously. "And I want you to know that I appreciate how, um, understanding you have been about this whole thing with me and Jess," she said sincerely.

"Of course," Lorelai said quickly as she patted Luke's leg, trying to get him to unclench his hands.

"I guess, um, here's the thing. I think we all need to just get over that, you know?" Rory said quickly. "Yes, it's gonna be a little strange for a while, but soon, it'll be old news, right? Soon it'll be like it's never been any other way, just like it is with you guys," she said as she gestured to them. "I mean, you've only been together, together for a few years. It's just that you were friends for so long before that…" she trailed off. "It just seems like longer," she finished lamely.

When she finished, Luke cleared his throat and said, "Rory, its fine."

Rory shook her head and said, "It's not fine, Luke. It's made us all uncomfortable. It caused this big thing between you and Jess, which I know had to hurt you because it was killing him, and now he's afraid to talk to you about stuff. Not about me, but about other things," she rambled. "And tonight, we shouldn't have tried to do this tonight. I know that Luke felt weird. Jess felt weird. The only ones who didn't really feel weird were me and Mom, and that's probably because we are weird," she said desperately.

"Rory," Lorelai tried to interrupt.

"No, Mom, it's not fine. I know it isn't bad, but it's not fine," she said adamantly. "Luke, Jess needs you. I know that he doesn't want to admit that, and I know that what he said to you hurt, but you know it wasn't true. We both need you," she said plainly. "We need you just the way you are and what you have been to both of us, that's why I don't think this double dating thing was the best idea."

"What do you mean?" Luke asked with a frown.

"I mean that it's hard for you not to think of us like that, and that is absolutely fine," she told him. "I think that when the four of us spend time together, Jess and I need to set the dating thing aside and just be as we have always been. I think we need to keep the dating thing to ourselves."

"Can you do that?" Lorelai asked incredulously.

"I think we can try, just until things get easier for everyone," Rory said with a nod.

Luke sighed as he let his head fall forward spun his wedding ring on his finger, staring at the three vines that wove into one another in a complete circle. "I don't want you to do that," he said quietly.

"What? Really, Luke, it's no big deal," Rory said quickly.

Luke shook his head and said, "Yes it is, it's a very big deal. If you try to do that, you guys won't be, uh, you," he said as he looked up at her. "I'll admit I'm not a big fan of the jokes and the insinuations," he said as he shot Lorelai a quelling look.

"Innuendo," Lorelai supplied helpfully. "The word you're looking for… Uh, right," she said with a nod.

Rory smirked and said, "Yeah, well, shocker, Jess isn't either."

Lorelai nodded and said, "Okay, I will try to watch it, but you guys have to be careful with the dirty stuff." When Luke turned to look at her, she held her hands up defensively as she said, "Try to tell me that you weren't thinking it too!"

"I would never have said anything if I was," he replied.

"Fine," Lorelai grumbled. "It's all my fault," she pouted as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I'm not saying that, I'm just saying that maybe we have to look at this the same way it was when we first started dating, with the flirting and stuff," he reminded her.

Lorelai nodded slowly and said, "I will be more careful about keeping my dirty mind to myself."

Luke nodded and turned back to Rory and said, "And I'll try to, uh, lighten up a little." When Rory smiled in relief, he lifted his eyebrows and said, "But you tell that little punk nephew of mine that if he threatens to shove his tongue down your throat again, I'll shove it back down his for him."

A giggle escaped Rory as she nodded and said, "I think you may need to tell him that yourself. It may lose something in translation."

Luke nodded and said, "You're right, I will."

Rory looked from her mother to Luke as she asked, "Are you both okay with me and Jess going to the wedding, uh, together next weekend?"

Lorelai looked at Luke and shrugged as she said, "I'm fine."

"No problem," Luke said as he nodded slowly.

"Okay, well, I guess I'll let you guys get back to bed," she said cautiously.

"Oh yeah, I'm beat," Lorelai said as she glanced over at Luke with a small smile.

"Okay, goodnight," Rory said as she leaned over and hugged Lorelai. She turned and gave Luke a slightly awkward hug and then said, "Huh. You're right, he does smell like onions. Must be in your skin," she said as she wrinkled her nose and headed for the door. "Night," she called as she pulled the door closed behind her.

"Night, Sweets," Lorelai answered.

Luke turned to Lorelai with a puzzled frown and said, "I didn't chop any onions today."

"Huh, mystery," Lorelai said as she cocked her head and stared at him. "You really okay?" she asked.

Luke turned his wedding band with his thumb as he said, "Yeah, I am. Or, I will be."

"Ready for bed?" she asked coyly.

"Haven't you caused enough trouble for one night?" he asked as the corners of his lips twitched into a smile.

"Babe, I haven't even started," she said as she grasped his shoulders and pushed him back onto the mattress.

"Such a bad girl," Luke said as he ran his hands lightly up and down her arms.

XXXX

Rory squeezed Jess' hand lightly as they strolled across the square to the diner and said, "That was a nice wedding."

Jess chuckled and said, "For Kirk and Lulu, yes it was."

"Anyone say anything to you?" she asked him as he unlocked the diner door.

Jess nodded and turned to her as he said solemnly, "Yes. Luke is going to kick your ass if you break my heart."

Rory smiled and said, "Duly noted," as she stepped into the darkened dining room. As Jess locked the door behind then she said, "Grandma caught us holding hands in church."

"Uh oh," Jess muttered under his breath as he took her hand again and led her toward the stairs.

"Mom talked her down, and I guess since you weren't drawn and quartered before the cake was cut, she must be okay with it," Rory said as she followed him through the curtain.

"And your grandfather?" Jess asked.

"I'm not sure if she told him. He seemed kind of oblivious," Rory said with a shrug.

"He seemed kind of drunk," Jess answered with a smirk.

Rory grinned as they walked up the stairs and said, "It was kind of funny to see him trying to dance with her as she was pouring him into the car."

"No one else seemed too surprised," Jess commented as he unlocked the apartment door.

"No, I assume Mrs. Cassini must have said something after all, because the only thing Babette said was that you were as tasty as your uncle," Rory told him with a grin.

"Great, just want I needed to hear," Jess grumbled as he turned on the lights and dropped his keys on the table.

Rory stopped just behind him and said, "I'm ready."

Jess turned to her with a crooked smile as he reached out and pulled her to him. "Me too," he said as he tilted his head and brushed his lips over hers.

Rory laughed as she pushed lightly at his chest and said, "No, I'm ready to read."

Jess groaned and held her tighter as he said, "No, no reading, we're all alone."

Rory fixed him with a stern look and said, "It's still early and we'll still be all alone when I'm done. You promised," she reminded him gently.

Jess sighed as he loosened his hold on her and asked, "You really want to do this?"

Rory rolled her eyes and said, "Are you kidding? I've been dying to read it."

"Okay," he acquiesced. He turned toward the table and asked, "You want to read here or somewhere else?"

Rory chewed the inside of her cheek as she said, "Well, I won't be able to concentrate if you're staring at me, so why don't I take it in your room."

"Fine," he said as he unplugged the laptop and carried it toward his bedroom. He waited for it to boot up as she arranged his pillows to her satisfaction and got comfortable. "I can think of better things to do in here," he grumbled.

Rory smiled and said, "I'll come and get you when I'm done."

"It's only really three chapters that are fully fleshed out. Four is mostly done, and I have some notes on five, but the rest are mainly just outline stuff," he explained as he opened the 'crap' folder and handed the laptop to her. "This is nuts," he said as he shook his head sadly.

Rory smiled and asked, "Can I leave comments on it?"

Jess smirked and asked, "In the margins?"

"Wherever," Rory answered with a sassy smile.

"Knock yourself out, but I warn you, red this my do the trick," he muttered.

Rory tipped her face up to him and said, "Kiss." Jess kissed her softly at first, and then tried to deepen the kiss in a last ditch effort to distract her. Rory laughed as she ducked away from him and said, "Later. No go away."

Jess walked toward the door and asked, "You want this closed?"

"Open is fine," Rory said as she clicked on the first chapter, and then focused as the words appeared on the screen.

"And she's lost," Jess murmured as he turned toward the living room and scanned all surfaces in a hunt for the remote control.

Two and a half hours later, Rory closed the last of the outlined chapters, and sat back against the headboard as she let what she had just read filter through her mind. Slowly she became aware of the drone of the television and then caught the sound of a soft snore. She smiled, closed the folder, and was about to set the laptop aside when she thought of one more note she wanted to add to the outline of the final chapter. She frowned at the icons on the screen and then remembered Jess saying that it was 'nuts' that she wanted to read. She clicked on the icon and frowned in confusion when fewer chapters appeared in the folder.

She double clicked the first chapter and when it appeared on the screen _she read, __He tried to tell himself that it was simply the allure of forbidden fruit; that you always want the one girl that you couldn't and shouldn't have. __He tried to tell himself that, but he never believed his own lies. _

_I suppose it is possible that I loved her the moment I saw her, Jeff mused as he watched her walk away from him that night. You couldn't help but love her, she was beautiful, inside and out. Physically, it wasn't much of a shock. Her mother was beautiful too, but in a much more brash, 'Hey look at me' kind of way. Lori was so much like her, but so very different. Quieter, that's for sure. She seemed more intellectual, although Lauren's personality masked a brain that was a force to be reckoned with in its own right. Her hair was not as dark and striking as her mother's, but it had a sheen of gloss that made a guy itch to touch it, just to see if it could possibly feel as silken as it looked. It did. It does. And the eyes… Was there a man alive that could resist the bright blue eyes of a Gillman girl once they focused on him?_

Rory blinked in confusion as she re-read the paragraph again. Her eyes quickly dropped to the paragraph below.

_Despite her cautious nature, Lori's mind was quick and facile, grasping information, processing it quickly, and storing it away for future reference. Very little escaped her interest, and even topics that didn't particularly fascinate her, were kept, just in case they were ever needed. This is what most people missed when they met her. She was shy, self effacing, and a tad bit unsure of her beauty. These things were easy to see by the way she held herself. But if you took the time to scratch the surface, you would find a backbone forged by strength of character, confidence borne of a willingness to work hard, and ambition that drove her to reach beyond the tiny town that she loved as home. This, the whole incredible package, is what drew Jeff to her like a moth to a flame. She was irresistible, and she didn't even know it. To him, that was the most entrancing thing of all._

She read the word 'flashback' in italics and couldn't resist going on.

_Jeff didn't expect the pain. The ache was almost physical as he stared out of the bus window, watching Connecticut disappear behind him. He tried to tell himself that he never belonged there. He reminded himself that he never wanted to go there in the first place. Why did it hurt so bad to leave, Jeff wondered as he stared morosely at the scenery whipping by. Because they didn't understand that he would have gladly have broken his own wrist rather than hers. Lori was his friend. The first true friend he had ever had; the first person who had ever bothered to look beyond the attitude, the first person who had ever accepted who he was, and the first person who had ever expected more from him. She was the first person he had ever felt remorse for disappointing. But the second followed closely on her heels. As he boarded the bus heading for New York, he had been careful not to look back. He couldn't bear to see the pain etched around his uncle's eyes, it was too much. For as much as Lori meant to him, Louie was the first person in his life who had ever truly gave a damn, even if he didn't understand._

_Louie seemed to know that his arrogance and detachment was just a shield. He was probably well acquainted with the concept, having kept his own feelings masked behind a gruff exterior for so many years. It was the downfall of the Duke men. This misplaced pride that made it almost impossible for them to share their feelings with those that mattered most. And other than the a few well placed jabs at one another, it was an unspoken rule that they would cover each other's backs when it counted. When Louie had finally broken down and exposed his feelings for Lauren, Jeff still stayed quiet, never quite letting on how much he knew about the depths of his uncle's feelings, unconsciously helping him hang on to one last shred of that stubborn Duke pride._

_Yes, it was the first time anyone had ever really cared about him. The first time that anyone had actually given enough of a damn about him to push him into a lake and then buy out the smoking cessation aisle at the pharmacy._ "_I am not letting you just fall off the face of the earth. You will not drift, I won't let it happen. Now I don't know if this is the right way to handle this, but this is the way it's being handled, and that my friend, is the end of this discussion," Louie had said as he tossed nicotine patches and herbal remedies at him. And he had made good on that promise. Maybe not in the most orthodox ways, Jeff could admit, but never once had he doubted that Louie would be there. Trying to do the right thing, trying to be a better person, and trying to make him into one too. All Jeff knew was that the last thing he ever wanted to do was to let Louie down, and yet, he did it. All it took was a precisely timed swing below the belt, and everything that he had wanted, but would never admit to needing, hung in the balance. That was why he played penny poker with a bunch of guys twice his age or more. That was why when Dirk mentioned how he wished his father could be there for his big day Jeff couldn't help but look across the table at Louie. It was unthinkable. He couldn't imagine how he would ever be able to face the milestones in his life without knowing Louie was there to back him up. That was when he knew he had to do something. This was too big. There were too many questions, too many feelings, too many possibilities waiting for him. For them. He had to know that Louie would always be there. If for no other reason than to kick his ass so that he wouldn't fall off of the face of the earth._

"Louie," Rory whispered. "Oh my God," she said as she continued to scroll down the page, her eyes darting back and forth, lines jumping out at her, paragraphs making her breath hitch in her chest as Jess' story, the story of how they came to be sprang to life on the page. She skimmed along, as he chronicled the romance of Louie and Lauren, and the evolution of their unique family, glancing up at the door nervously when she heard him shift on the old leather couch. She held her breath until the soft snores began again and quickly read on.

_Jeff had never been a hearts and flowers kind of guy. The Lifetime Network wasn't going to be beating down his door to become their leading man d' jour, Hallmark wasn't hiring him to come up with sappy sentiments to round out their Sweetest Day line of cards, and if De Beers really thought that two month's worth of his salary was a reasonable price to pay for a hunk of minerals, he had a few choice words for them. The truth was, up until the time that he met Tara, he pretty much saw women as being pretty much interchangeable. If that one didn't work out, you simply moved on to the next accommodating candidate. When that one became a little too demanding, you found another with less stringent needs. Of course, he had met Tara after bearing witness to Happy Hollow's own epic love story. Maybe it was something in the water, or perhaps it was just time, but he had been ripe for a fall. And he had thought that he had fallen hard. There were times just after he learned of her betrayal, that he thought he'd never claw his way back up to the surface. But he had. Sometimes with a helping hand. And, most of the time that hand belonged to Lori._

"Oh, Jess," she breathed as she read of the growing awareness of the special bond Jeff and Lori shared, the jealousy and Jeff's desperate need to bury the feelings he had for Lori deep inside of him. She read about the kiss and run, she read about the sleepless nights and worried days that had plagued Jeff as he tried to put it behind him, and until finally she read about the spark of hope that ignited in his heart when he and Lori were finally able to admit that neither one of them wanted to ignore their feelings any longer. She was enthralled as she read of the depth of Jeff's emotions, staggered by the language Jess used to describe his 'characters' and moved to tears as he committed his love for her to the page.

_She was perfect. Not in that Hollywood idealized version of airbrushed beauty that the world bought into. She was perfection incarnate. She was warm, soft skin that radiated heat beneath his touch, sweet words that sang in his head, and quiet laughter that filled him with a joy he hadn't realized existed anywhere other than the printed page. If Jeff was once awed by Lori's ability to make his heart race with a single look, he was now completely lost. Nothing and no one would ever compare to her perfection. And he knew that he would never feel as happy, as complete, or as perfect as he had felt in her arms._

Rory pressed a trembling hand to her lips as she stared down at the blank space below the last sentence. "You still reading?" Jess asked in a raspy voice as he hovered in the doorway.

Rory looked up and saw him standing there, his dress pants wrinkled, his shirt half untucked, and his hair standing up on one side and completely flattened on the other. "I'm sorry. I opened the wrong one," she confessed as she lifted the computer from her lap and held it out to him.

"What?" he asked as he reached for the proffered laptop.

"I closed the file, and then I wanted to add something," she explained and she saw his eyes widen as he looked at the screen. "I thought you said it was the 'nuts' file," she said nervously as she tried to read his expression.

"No, it's 'crap'," he murmured as he pressed the power button to shut down the computer.

"Jess," Rory said as she swung her legs from the bed.

"Did you, uh, read it?" he asked as he set the laptop on the dresser without looking at her.

"Yes," she whispered.

Jess nodded, his cheeks flaming as he bit his bottom lip and looked anywhere but directly at her. "Should I ask what you think?" he asked finally.

"I think you are perfect," she said quietly as she moved to stand in front of him. When he looked up to meet her shining eyes, Rory smiled softly and said, "I think you are perfect, and when I am with you I feel happy, complete and perfect too." She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly, pressing her cheek to his shoulder as she said, "It's a beautiful story."

"Beautiful girl," Jess said gruffly as he ran his hand over her silky hair.

Rory raised her lips to his and kissed him soulfully, her lips clinging to his even as she pulled away gently. She pressed her forehead to his and whispered, "Luke would flip if he knew you called him Louie."

Jess brushed his knuckles over her soft cheek and then caressed her gently as he lifted her head again. "Yeah, well that was just an added bonus," he told her with a crooked smile.

Rory's eyes danced as she stepped back and then tumbled back onto the bed, yanking him down with her. She laughed as he tried to balance catch his balance and then crashed down on top of her. "That, right there, is why I love you," she said as her laughter filled the room.

"Well, I have skills," he said with a modest shrug.

"Yes, you do," she agreed as she pulled him down and kissed him again. The kisses heated quickly as he parted her lips with his own and claimed possession of her mouth. When he broke away to trail heated kisses down the side of her neck, Rory gave a husky laugh and said, "And, you can write too."

_Their Beginning_


End file.
